Increased spore yields of Clostridium perfringens in the presence of methylxanthines

Abstract

The methylxanthines caffeine, theophylline, and isobutylmethylxanthine greatly increased spore yields of Clostridium perfringens strains FD-1, PS52, and PS49 when grown on Duncan-Strong medium or on a new casein-digest medium. Four other strains (KA3, and National Collection of Type Cultures strains 8798, 8238, and 10240) failed to show any significant increase when tested under similar conditions. The degree of sporulation increase was influenced by the carbohydrate energy source in some strains but not in others. Strain PS52 showed a large increase in spore yield when dextrin was the energy source but only a slight increase when raffinose served as the energy source. Strain FD-1 showed similar increases in spore yield with either dextrin or raffinose.