Purification of the alpha toxin of Clostridium perfringens type A by ultrafiltration and gel chromatography.

Clostridium perfringens type A toxin produced in Jayko & Lichstein medium was subjected to various concentration and purification procedures. The results obtained with 3 different ultrafiltration membranes followed by gel filtration showed that by using Millipore PSED OHV10 and Amicon XM-100 filter membranes in combination, a three-hundred-and-fivefold purification could be achieved as against a twelvefold increase obtained with ammonium sulphate/acetone precipitation. The lecitovitelin test was more sensitive than the haemolytic activity in determining the alpha toxin activity. The optical density, measured at 280 nm, did not reveal any alpha toxin activity in the relevant toxic fractions.