Use of Esienia fetida Worms to Produce Peptone for Clostridium perfringens Vaccine Production

Concurrent with an increase in the human population on the earth, more than ever, the creation of energy and maintenance of health is necessary, and nowadays, various sources of energy supply are being developed. The general global view in this regard is to provide protein and energy from available and cheap sources. Iran is no exception to this general rule, only in the field of ensuring the health of livestock resources every year, about ۱۰ tons of peptone is needed for producing clostridial vaccines. Vermicomposting worms (Esienia fetida) with high protein percentages and rapid reproductions are a suitable source for peptone production. Based on this, the vaccine strain of Clostridium perfringens type D cultivated in two different media contain peptone produced from worms and meat peptone. The growth rate, epsilon toxin (ETX), and alpha toxin (CPA) of Cl. perfringens have been compared in two media. The results showed that the growth rate of bacteria in the worm peptone medium in ۴۸ h was ۲۲% higher than that of the meat peptone. Additionally, the activity of alpha toxin (phospholipase C) was in worm peptone ۱۵% higher than meat peptone during ۸۰ min of measurement. Regarding epsilon toxin lethality, all three mice of the N-worm peptone group died, while all three mice of the meat peptone group survived even ۷۲ h after injection. The average survival time of mice in the N-worm peptone group was ۱۷۰۰ min. Therefore, we suggest the worms' protein is more suitable than industrial meat in peptone production for vicinal propose. To eliminate the need for hydrolyzed protein in the production of vaccines in the future, we suggest an increase in the fields of employment and the development of fertilizer and worm farms in Iran.

Keywords:

Clostridium perfringens , epsilon toxin , Esienia fetida worm , peptone , phospholipase C