Research in our laboratory has demonstrated that an enterotoxin is produced by certain strains of Clostridium perfringens. Our results indicated that this toxin normally is elaborated in the intestine following ingestion of viable cells and is responsible for the symptoms of food poisoning associated with classical toxigenic type A strains of the organism. The involvement of the enterotoxin in food poisoning caused by toxigenic type C strains is not known. Neither is it clear whether beta toxin produced by toxigenic type C strains is the predominant toxin involved in type C food poisoning. The overall broad objectives of the proposed research are (a) to clarify the role of enterotoxin and beta toxins in human food poisoning, (b) to investigate the factors affecting their production and stability, (c) to develop and improve techniques for toxin quantitation, and (d) to determine the relationship of enterotoxin formation to the bacterial morphogenic process of sporulation.