Complementation of a Clostridium perfringens spo0A mutant with wild-type spo0A from other Clostridium species

To evaluate whether C perfringens can be used as a model organism for studying the sporulation process in other clostridia, C perfringens spo0A mutant 1H101 was complemented with wild-type spo0A from four different Clostridium species. Wild-type spo0A from C acetobutylicum or C tetani, but not from C botulinum or C difficile, restored sporulation and enterotoxin production in IH101. The ability of spo0A from C botulinum or C difficile to complement the lack of spore formation in IH101 might be due, at least in part, to the low levels of spo0A transcription and Spo0A production.