Abstract
Thiaminase production together with other biological characteristics of Clostridium botulinum strains were studied. Of 52 strains studied, all 12 strains of type A, 8 of 9 strains of type B and 1 of 3 strains of type F produced thiaminase-I. As a comparison, 4 strains of Cl. sporogenes were also studied and thiaminase-I production was demonstrated among all. All of the thiaminase positive strains of Cl. botulinum were proteolytic, while the thiaminase negative strains were non-proteolytic. From these observations, it is concluded that the taxonomical relationship between proteolytic strains of Clostridium botulinum and Cl. sporogenes is proved to be closer and hence the proteolytic strains of Cl. botulinum may be registered as additional members on the list of anaerobic thiaminase bacteria.
