A species of anaerobic, gram-positive, rod-shaped bacteria in the family Clostridiaceae that produces proteins with characteristic neurotoxicity. It is the etiologic agent of BOTULISM in humans, wild fowl, HORSES; and CATTLE. Seven subtypes (sometimes called antigenic types, or strains) exist, each producing a different botulinum toxin (BOTULINUM TOXINS). The organism and its spores are widely distributed in nature.

Toxic proteins produced from the species CLOSTRIDIUM BOTULINUM. The toxins are synthesized as a single peptide chain which is processed into a mature protein consisting of a heavy chain and light chain joined via a disulfide bond. The botulinum toxin light chain is a zinc-dependent protease which is released from the heavy chain upon ENDOCYTOSIS into PRESYNAPTIC NERVE ENDINGS. Once inside the cell the botulinum toxin light chain cleaves specific SNARE proteins which are essential for secretion of ACETYLCHOLINE by SYNAPTIC VESICLES. This inhibition of acetylcholine release results in muscular PARALYSIS.

Subtype of CLOSTRIDIUM BOTULINUM that produces botulinum toxin type E which is neurotoxic to humans and animals.

A disease caused by potent protein NEUROTOXINS produced by CLOSTRIDIUM BOTULINUM which interfere with the presynaptic release of ACETYLCHOLINE at the NEUROMUSCULAR JUNCTION. Clinical features include abdominal pain, vomiting, acute PARALYSIS (including respiratory paralysis), blurred vision, and DIPLOPIA. Botulism may be classified into several subtypes (e.g., food-borne, infant, wound, and others). (From Adams et al., Principles of Neurology, 6th ed, p1208)

Subtype of CLOSTRIDIUM BOTULINUM that produces BOTULINUM TOXINS, TYPE A which is neurotoxic to humans and animals.

Subtype of CLOSTRIDIUM BOTULINUM that produces botulinum toxin type B which is neurotoxic to humans and animals.

Subtype of CLOSTRIDIUM BOTULINUM that produces botulinum toxin type F which is neurotoxic to humans and animals.

Subtype of CLOSTRIDIUM BOTULINUM that produces botulinum toxin type D which is neurotoxic to ANIMALS, especially CATTLE, but not humans.

A genus of motile or nonmotile gram-positive bacteria of the family Clostridiaceae. Many species have been identified with some being pathogenic. They occur in water, soil, and in the intestinal tract of humans and lower animals.

Antiserum given therapeutically in BOTULISM.

A serotype of botulinum toxins that has specificity for cleavage of SYNAPTOSOMAL-ASSOCIATED PROTEIN 25.

Subtype of CLOSTRIDIUM BOTULINUM that produces botulinum toxin type C which is neurotoxic to ANIMALS, especially CATTLE, but not humans. It causes dissociation of ACTIN FILAMENTS.

Specific, characterizable, poisonous chemicals, often PROTEINS, with specific biological properties, including immunogenicity, produced by microbes, higher plants (PLANTS, TOXIC), or ANIMALS.

Toxic substances from microorganisms, plants or animals that interfere with the functions of the nervous system. Most venoms contain neurotoxic substances. Myotoxins are included in this concept.

The reproductive elements of lower organisms, such as BACTERIA; FUNGI; and cryptogamic plants.

Preparations of pathogenic organisms or their derivatives made nontoxic and intended for active immunologic prophylaxis. They include deactivated toxins. Anatoxin toxoids are distinct from anatoxins that are TROPANES found in CYANOBACTERIA.

Food products manufactured from fish (e.g., FISH FLOUR, fish meal).

Subtype of CLOSTRIDIUM BOTULINUM that produces botulinum toxin type G. Though it has been isolated from soil, no outbreaks involving this type have been recognized.

The dose amount of poisonous or toxic substance or dose of ionizing radiation required to kill 50% of the tested population.

A common inhabitant of the colon flora in human infants and sometimes in adults. It produces a toxin that causes pseudomembranous enterocolitis (ENTEROCOLITIS, PSEUDOMEMBRANOUS) in patients receiving antibiotic therapy.

Infections with bacteria of the genus CLOSTRIDIUM.

The presence of bacteria, viruses, and fungi in food and food products. This term is not restricted to pathogenic organisms: the presence of various non-pathogenic bacteria and fungi in cheeses and wines, for example, is included in this concept.

Antisera from immunized animals that is purified and used as a passive immunizing agent against specific BACTERIAL TOXINS.

Heat and stain resistant, metabolically inactive bodies formed within the vegetative cells of bacteria of the genera Bacillus and Clostridium.

Procedures or techniques used to keep food from spoiling.

Enzymes that transfer the ADP-RIBOSE group of NAD or NADP to proteins or other small molecules. Transfer of ADP-ribose to water (i.e., hydrolysis) is catalyzed by the NADASES. The mono(ADP-ribose)transferases transfer a single ADP-ribose. POLY(ADP-RIBOSE) POLYMERASES transfer multiple units of ADP-ribose to protein targets, building POLY ADENOSINE DIPHOSPHATE RIBOSE in linear or branched chains.

Containers, packaging, and packaging materials for processed and raw foods and beverages. It includes packaging intended to be used for storage and also used for preparation of foods such as microwave food containers versus COOKING AND EATING UTENSILS. Packaging materials may be intended for food contact or designated non-contact, for example, shipping containers. FOOD LABELING is also available.

Treatment of food with RADIATION.

Agents that cause agglutination of red blood cells. They include antibodies, blood group antigens, lectins, autoimmune factors, bacterial, viral, or parasitic blood agglutinins, etc.

Technique involving the diffusion of antigen or antibody through a semisolid medium, usually agar or agarose gel, with the result being a precipitin reaction.

Diseases of birds not considered poultry, therefore usually found in zoos, parks, and the wild. The concept is differentiated from POULTRY DISEASES which is for birds raised as a source of meat or eggs for human consumption, and usually found in barnyards, hatcheries, etc.

Sulfuric acid diammonium salt. It is used in CHEMICAL FRACTIONATION of proteins.

Toxic substances formed in or elaborated by bacteria; they are usually proteins with high molecular weight and antigenicity; some are used as antibiotics and some to skin test for the presence of or susceptibility to certain diseases.

Any liquid or solid preparation made specifically for the growth, storage, or transport of microorganisms or other types of cells. The variety of media that exist allow for the culturing of specific microorganisms and cell types, such as differential media, selective media, test media, and defined media. Solid media consist of liquid media that have been solidified with an agent such as AGAR or GELATIN.

Drugs used for their actions on skeletal muscle. Included are agents that act directly on skeletal muscle, those that alter neuromuscular transmission (NEUROMUSCULAR BLOCKING AGENTS), and drugs that act centrally as skeletal muscle relaxants (MUSCLE RELAXANTS, CENTRAL). Drugs used in the treatment of movement disorders are ANTI-DYSKINESIA AGENTS.

A method of measuring the effects of a biologically active substance using an intermediate in vivo or in vitro tissue or cell model under controlled conditions. It includes virulence studies in animal fetuses in utero, mouse convulsion bioassay of insulin, quantitation of tumor-initiator systems in mouse skin, calculation of potentiating effects of a hormonal factor in an isolated strip of contracting stomach muscle, etc.

Techniques used in studying bacteria.

The presence in food of harmful, unpalatable, or otherwise objectionable foreign substances, e.g. chemicals, microorganisms or diluents, before, during, or after processing or storage.

Nitrous acid sodium salt. Used in many industrial processes, in meat curing, coloring, and preserving, and as a reagent in ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY TECHNIQUES. It is used therapeutically as an antidote in cyanide poisoning. The compound is toxic and mutagenic and will react in vivo with secondary or tertiary amines thereby producing highly carcinogenic nitrosamines.

Presence of warmth or heat or a temperature notably higher than an accustomed norm.

Substances capable of inhibiting, retarding or arresting the process of fermentation, acidification or other deterioration of foods.

A serine endopeptidase that is formed from TRYPSINOGEN in the pancreas. It is converted into its active form by ENTEROPEPTIDASE in the small intestine. It catalyzes hydrolysis of the carboxyl group of either arginine or lysine. EC 3.4.21.4.

A family of anadromous fish comprising SALMON; TROUT; whitefish; and graylings. They are the most important food and game fishes. Their habitat is the northern Atlantic and Pacific, both marine and inland, and the Great Lakes. (Nelson: Fishes of the World, 1976, p97)

The cause of TETANUS in humans and domestic animals. It is a common inhabitant of human and horse intestines as well as soil. Two components make up its potent exotoxin activity, a neurotoxin and a hemolytic toxin.

Cellulose derivative used in chromatography, as ion-exchange material, and for various industrial applications.

Deoxyribonucleic acid that makes up the genetic material of bacteria.

Descriptions of specific amino acid, carbohydrate, or nucleotide sequences which have appeared in the published literature and/or are deposited in and maintained by databanks such as GENBANK, European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), National Biomedical Research Foundation (NBRF), or other sequence repositories.

The most common etiologic agent of GAS GANGRENE. It is differentiable into several distinct types based on the distribution of twelve different toxins.

Food that has been prepared and stored in a way to prevent spoilage.

Pinched-off nerve endings and their contents of vesicles and cytoplasm together with the attached subsynaptic area of the membrane of the post-synaptic cell. They are largely artificial structures produced by fractionation after selective centrifugation of nervous tissue homogenates.

Techniques used to separate mixtures of substances based on differences in the relative affinities of the substances for mobile and stationary phases. A mobile phase (fluid or gas) passes through a column containing a stationary phase of porous solid or liquid coated on a solid support. Usage is both analytical for small amounts and preparative for bulk amounts.

The presence of bacteria, viruses, and fungi in the soil. This term is not restricted to pathogenic organisms.

Type species of the genus CLOSTRIDIUM, a gram-positive bacteria in the family Clostridiaceae. It is used as a source of PROBIOTICS.

Sensitive tests to measure certain antigens, antibodies, or viruses, using their ability to agglutinate certain erythrocytes. (From Stedman, 26th ed)

Drugs used in the treatment of movement disorders. Most of these act centrally on dopaminergic or cholinergic systems. Among the most important clinically are those used for the treatment of Parkinson disease (ANTIPARKINSON AGENTS) and those for the tardive dyskinesias.

An acute inflammation of the INTESTINAL MUCOSA that is characterized by the presence of pseudomembranes or plaques in the SMALL INTESTINE (pseudomembranous enteritis) and the LARGE INTESTINE (pseudomembranous colitis). It is commonly associated with antibiotic therapy and CLOSTRIDIUM DIFFICILE colonization.

The functional hereditary units of BACTERIA.

A subclass of ACIDIC GLYCOSPHINGOLIPIDS. They contain one or more sialic acid (N-ACETYLNEURAMINIC ACID) residues. Using the Svennerholm system of abbrevations, gangliosides are designated G for ganglioside, plus subscript M, D, or T for mono-, di-, or trisialo, respectively, the subscript letter being followed by a subscript arabic numeral to indicated sequence of migration in thin-layer chromatograms. (From Oxford Dictionary of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 1997)

The measurement of infection-blocking titer of ANTISERA by testing a series of dilutions for a given virus-antiserum interaction end-point, which is generally the dilution at which tissue cultures inoculated with the serum-virus mixtures demonstrate cytopathology (CPE) or the dilution at which 50% of test animals injected with serum-virus mixtures show infectivity (ID50) or die (LD50).

The sum of the weight of all the atoms in a molecule.

The formation of a solid in a solution as a result of a chemical reaction or the aggregation of soluble substances into complexes large enough to fall out of solution.

A group of cold-blooded, aquatic vertebrates having gills, fins, a cartilaginous or bony endoskeleton, and elongated bodies covered with scales.

Excrement from the INTESTINES, containing unabsorbed solids, waste products, secretions, and BACTERIA of the DIGESTIVE SYSTEM.

A species of gram-positive bacteria in the family Clostridiaceae, used for the industrial production of SOLVENTS.

The normality of a solution with respect to HYDROGEN ions; H+. It is related to acidity measurements in most cases by pH = log 1/2[1/(H+)], where (H+) is the hydrogen ion concentration in gram equivalents per liter of solution. (McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 6th ed)

The restriction of a characteristic behavior, anatomical structure or physical system, such as immune response; metabolic response, or gene or gene variant to the members of one species. It refers to that property which differentiates one species from another but it is also used for phylogenetic levels higher or lower than the species.

Warm-blooded VERTEBRATES possessing FEATHERS and belonging to the class Aves.

Protein synthesized by CLOSTRIDIUM TETANI as a single chain of ~150 kDa with 35% sequence identity to BOTULINUM TOXIN that is cleaved to a light and a heavy chain that are linked by a single disulfide bond. Tetanolysin is the hemolytic and tetanospasmin is the neurotoxic principle. The toxin causes disruption of the inhibitory mechanisms of the CNS, thus permitting uncontrolled nervous activity, leading to fatal CONVULSIONS.

The order of amino acids as they occur in a polypeptide chain. This is referred to as the primary structure of proteins. It is of fundamental importance in determining PROTEIN CONFORMATION.

Viruses whose hosts are bacterial cells.

Process of determining and distinguishing species of bacteria or viruses based on antigens they share.

Chromatography on non-ionic gels without regard to the mechanism of solute discrimination.

A species of gram-positive, thermophilic, cellulolytic bacteria in the family Clostridaceae. It degrades and ferments CELLOBIOSE and CELLULOSE to ETHANOL in the CELLULOSOME.

The presence of bacteria, viruses, and fungi in water. This term is not restricted to pathogenic organisms.

Proteins found in any species of bacterium.

Serological reactions in which an antiserum against one antigen reacts with a non-identical but closely related antigen.

Centrifugation with a centrifuge that develops centrifugal fields of more than 100,000 times gravity. (McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 4th ed)

The property of objects that determines the direction of heat flow when they are placed in direct thermal contact. The temperature is the energy of microscopic motions (vibrational and translational) of the particles of atoms.

In vitro method for producing large amounts of specific DNA or RNA fragments of defined length and sequence from small amounts of short oligonucleotide flanking sequences (primers). The essential steps include thermal denaturation of the double-stranded target molecules, annealing of the primers to their complementary sequences, and extension of the annealed primers by enzymatic synthesis with DNA polymerase. The reaction is efficient, specific, and extremely sensitive. Uses for the reaction include disease diagnosis, detection of difficult-to-isolate pathogens, mutation analysis, genetic testing, DNA sequencing, and analyzing evolutionary relationships.

Separation technique in which the stationary phase consists of ion exchange resins. The resins contain loosely held small ions that easily exchange places with other small ions of like charge present in solutions washed over the resins.

A GTP-BINDING PROTEIN involved in regulating a signal transduction pathway that controls assembly of focal adhesions and actin stress fibers. This enzyme was formerly listed as EC 3.6.1.47.

Electrophoresis in which a polyacrylamide gel is used as the diffusion medium.

An ester formed between the aldehydic carbon of RIBOSE and the terminal phosphate of ADENOSINE DIPHOSPHATE. It is produced by the hydrolysis of nicotinamide-adenine dinucleotide (NAD) by a variety of enzymes, some of which transfer an ADP-ribosyl group to target proteins.

Gel electrophoresis in which the direction of the electric field is changed periodically. This technique is similar to other electrophoretic methods normally used to separate double-stranded DNA molecules ranging in size up to tens of thousands of base-pairs. However, by alternating the electric field direction one is able to separate DNA molecules up to several million base-pairs in length.

A set of genes descended by duplication and variation from some ancestral gene. Such genes may be clustered together on the same chromosome or dispersed on different chromosomes. Examples of multigene families include those that encode the hemoglobins, immunoglobulins, histocompatibility antigens, actins, tubulins, keratins, collagens, heat shock proteins, salivary glue proteins, chorion proteins, cuticle proteins, yolk proteins, and phaseolins, as well as histones, ribosomal RNA, and transfer RNA genes. The latter three are examples of reiterated genes, where hundreds of identical genes are present in a tandem array. (King & Stanfield, A Dictionary of Genetics, 4th ed)

The mechanical process of cooling.

Sudden increase in the incidence of a disease. The concept includes EPIDEMICS and PANDEMICS.

The sequence of PURINES and PYRIMIDINES in nucleic acids and polynucleotides. It is also called nucleotide sequence.

Mold and yeast inhibitor. Used as a fungistatic agent for foods, especially cheeses.

An immunoassay utilizing an antibody labeled with an enzyme marker such as horseradish peroxidase. While either the enzyme or the antibody is bound to an immunosorbent substrate, they both retain their biologic activity; the change in enzyme activity as a result of the enzyme-antibody-antigen reaction is proportional to the concentration of the antigen and can be measured spectrophotometrically or with the naked eye. Many variations of the method have been developed.

The edible portions of any animal used for food including domestic mammals (the major ones being cattle, swine, and sheep) along with poultry, fish, shellfish, and game.

A multistage process that includes cloning, physical mapping, subcloning, determination of the DNA SEQUENCE, and information analysis.

A species of gram-positive bacteria in the family Clostridiaceae, found in INTESTINES and SOIL.

The section of the alimentary canal from the STOMACH to the ANAL CANAL. It includes the LARGE INTESTINE and SMALL INTESTINE.

A ubiquitous target SNARE protein that interacts with SYNTAXIN and SYNAPTOBREVIN. It is a core component of the machinery for intracellular MEMBRANE FUSION. The sequence contains 2 SNARE domains, one is the prototype for the Qb-SNARES, and the other is the prototype for the Qc-SNARES.