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Appl Environ Microbiol. 1975 April; 29(4): 444-447
Copyright © 1975 American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Molecular Construction of Clostridium botulinum Progenitor Toxin

College of Agriculture, University of Osaka Prefecture, Sakai-shi, Osaka 591, Japan

ABSTRACT

Molecular dissociation of purified type F progenitor toxin with an S_20,w of 10.3 and a molecular weight of 235,000 into two components, toxic and atoxic, was demonstrated by ultracentrifugation, gel filtration, and diethylaminoethyl-Sephadex chromatography at pH 7.5. The ultracentrifugal analysis indicated that type F progenitor toxin dissociates into components of the same molecular size of 5.9S. The toxic component contained a toxicity of 2.5 x 10⁸ 50% lethal doses per mg of N. Much higher stability of progenitor toxin than that of derivative toxin, particularly at pH below 5, suggests that only progenitor toxin can act as an oral toxin.