ArticlePLoS pathogens2008
NetB, a new toxin that is associated with avian necrotic enteritis caused by Clostridium perfringens.
Article in PLoS pathogens, 2008. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 243 papers.
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Who cites it
243 citing papers in PubMed, 612 citations in OpenAlex.
- In silico prediction of Gallibacterium anatis pan-immunogens.Veterinary research · 2014Trial
- Innovative Approaches Against Planktonic and Biofilm-ProducingVeterinary sciences · 2026Review
- An engineered Escherichia coli-ClyA-NetB outer membrane vesicle delivery system modulates jejunal microbiota in broiler chickens with necrotic enteritis.Poultry science · 2026Article
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- A novel Bacillus subtilis strain alleviates necrotic enteritis in chickens by reducing NetB toxin from Clostridium perfringens.Poultry science · 2026Article
- Intestinal microbiome in necrotic enteritis infection of broiler and comparison of treatment alternatives.Tropical animal health and production · 2026Article
- Molecular epidemiology and PFGE-based genetic diversity of Clostridium perfringens in broiler chickens from Eastern Türkiye.BMC veterinary research · 2026Article
- Toxinotyping, Antibiotic Resistance Profile, and In Vitro Bio-Control ofAntibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- The effective role of organic acids as antibiotic alternatives in controlling necrotic enteritis in broiler chickens.Poultry science · 2026Article
- AnMicroorganisms · 2025Article
- Milestones in Clostridium perfringens research since 1995.Anaerobe · 2025Review
- Agglutination of Escherichia coli, Clostridium perfringens, and Salmonella enterica through competitive exclusion using potassium chloride with gum arabic.International microbiology : the official journal of the Spanish Society for Microbiology · 2025Article
- Additional Valine and Isoleucine Impact Growth Performance, Intestinal Health, and Muscle Growth in Broilers Under Necrotic Enteritis Challenges.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2025Article
- Prevalence, molecular detection, and histopathological analysis of necrotic enteritis in chickens.Open veterinary journal · 2025Article
- Development of a Clostridium Perfringens Challenge Model in Broiler Chickens to Evaluate the Effects of Feed Additives.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Purification and characterization of a novel antibacterial peptide againstMicrobiology (Reading, England) · 2025Article
- In Silico Design, Optimization, and Evaluation of a Multi-Epitope Vaccine Targeting theMicroorganisms · 2025Article
- Oral and parenteral vaccination of broiler chickens with Recombinant NetB antigen from Clostridium perfringens confers significant protection against necrotic enteritis.BMC veterinary research · 2025Article
- Antimicrobial susceptibility profiles of commensalFrontiers in veterinary science · 2025Article
183 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
For over 30 years a phospholipase C enzyme called alpha-toxin was thought to be the key virulence factor in necrotic enteritis caused by Clostridium perfringens. However, using a gene knockout mutant we have recently shown that alpha-toxin is not essential for pathogenesis. We have now discovered a key virulence determinant. A novel toxin (NetB) was identified in a C. perfringens strain isolated from a chicken suffering from necrotic enteritis (NE). The toxin displayed limited amino acid sequence similarity to several pore forming toxins including beta-toxin from C. perfringens (38% identity) and alpha-toxin from Staphylococcus aureus (31% identity). NetB was only identified in C. perfringens type A strains isolated from chickens suffering NE. Both purified native NetB and recombinant NetB displayed cytotoxic activity against the chicken leghorn male hepatoma cell line LMH; inducing cell rounding and lysis. To determine the role of NetB in NE a netB mutant of a virulent C. perfringens chicken isolate was constructed by homologous recombination, and its virulence assessed in a chicken disease model. The netB mutant was unable to cause disease whereas the wild-type parent strain and the netB mutant complemented with a wild-type netB gene caused significant levels of NE. These data show unequivocally that in this isolate a functional NetB toxin is critical for the ability of C. perfringens to cause NE in chickens. This novel toxin is the first definitive virulence factor to be identified in avian C. perfringens strains capable of causing NE. Furthermore, the netB mutant is the first rationally attenuated strain obtained in an NE-causing isolate of C. perfringens; as such it has considerable vaccine potential.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.