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Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences

Veterinary bacteriology: information about important bacteria
Veterinary bacteriology


Species/Subspecies: Clostridium chauvoei
Categories: Causes hemolysis; spore forming; motile; notifiable diseases and bacteria
Etymology: Genus name: a small spindle.
Species epithet: named after the French bacteriologist J.A.B. Chauveau (1827-1917).
Significance:In Sweden, blackleg is endemic in primarely the south eastern counties.
  [Very important]   
Taxonomy:
Phylum
Bacillota
Class
Clostridia
Order
Clostridiales
Family
Clostridiaceae 
Genus
Clostridium
Type Strain: ATCC 10092 = NCTC 13023.
Macromorphology (smell):
Clostridium chauvoei  Clostridium chauvoei  Clostridium chauvoei  
May form large (5 mm in diameter) colonies, but may also form a continuous "carpet" of bacteria, (the bacteria are swarming). Give hemolysis on sheep blood agar.
Micromorphology: Big straight rods (0.6 x 3-8 µm) with rounded ends, which appear single or in short chains of 3-5 bacteria. B. chauvoei is spore forming and usually motile by means of peritrichous flagella.
Gram +/Gram -:G+
Metabolism: Anaerobic.
Catalase/Oxidase:-/-
Other Enzymes: DNase +, esculinase +, hyaluronidase +, lecithinase -, neuraminidase +, tryptophanase -.
Fermentation of carbohydrates:
D-glucose
?
lactose
(+)
maltose
(+)
L-rhamnose
-
sucrose
(+)
L-arabinose
-
cellobiose
-
D-mannitol
-
salicin
-
trehalose
-
glycerol
?
inulin
-
raffinose
-
D-sorbitol
-
starch
-
Other carbohydrates: Fructose (-), galactose (+), mannose (+), ribose v, xylose -.
Spec. Char.:
Special Media:
Disease:
HostsDiseaseClinical picture
Cattle, sheep. Most common in beef cattle (6–24 months) on pastureBlacklegAcute death without symptoms, milder cases lameness in a hind leg. Swelling, crepitus caused by gas bubbles and dysfunction of the affected muscle group.
Virulence Factors: The toxin CctA (Clostridium chauvoei toxin A), which is a β-barrel pore forming toxin of the leucocidin family is a major virulence factor of C. chauvoei. These proteins are cytotoxic, because they create unregulated pores in the membrane of target cells. Note that CctA is responsible for the strong hemolytic activity seen on blood-agar plates. Other virulence factors are DNase and hyaluronidase, which are named β- and γ-toxin, respectively.
Genome Sequence:
Acc-noStrainSize (bp)Genome
One ongoing    

16S rRNA Seq.:
Acc-noStrainNumber of NTOperon
U51843 (T) 1507  

Taxonomy/phylogeny:
Clostridium chauvoei  
About 180 differens species have been descibed within genus Clostridium. C. chauvoei is closely related toC. septicum.
Legislation: In Sweden it is compulsary to report blackleg to the Swedish Board of Agriculture.
Reference(s): No. 10, 113
Link: Clostridia.net
Updated:2023-03-08

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