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The gene encoding the α-(cpa) is present in all strains of Clostridium perfringens , and the purified α-toxin has been shown to be a zinc-containing phospholipase C enzyme, which is preferentially active towards phosphatidylcholine and sphingomyelin. The α-toxin is haemolytic as a result if its ability to hydrolyse cell membrane phospholipids and this activity distinguishes it from many other related zinc-metallophospholipases C. Recent studies have shown that the α-toxin is the major virulence determinant in cases of gas gangrene, and the toxin might play a role in several other diseases of animals and man as diverse as necrotic enteritis in chickens and Crohn's disease in man. In gas gangrene the toxin appears to have three major roles in the pathogenesis of disease. First, it is able to cause mistrafficking of neutrophils, such that they do not enter infected tissues. Second, the toxin is able to cause vasoconstriction …