Role of Clostridium perfringens Toxins in Necrotic Enteritis in Poultry M Flores-Díaz, E Barquero-Calvo, M Ramírez, and A Alape-Girón Contents Introduction ....................................................................................... 2 Necrotic Enteritis: Symptoms, Pathological Findings, and Diagnosis .......................... 3 Clostridium perfringens Toxins Involved in Necrotic Enteritis ................................. 5 C. perfringens Phospholipase C (Cp-PLC) ................................................... 5 C. perfringens NetB ........................................................................... 6 C. perfringens TpeL .......................................................................... 7 Other Toxins ................................................................................... 7 Predisposing Factors .............................................................................. 8 Experimental Models of the Disease ............................................................. 8 Pathogenesis ...................................................................................... 9 Prevention and Control ........................................................................... 10 Immunity and Prospects for Vaccination ......................................................... 11 M. Flores-Díaz (*) Instituto Clodomiro Picado, Facultad de Microbiología, Universidad de Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica e-mail: marietta.flores@ucr.ac.cr E. Barquero-Calvo Programa de Investigación en Enfermedades Tropicales, Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica, Heredia, Costa Rica e-mail: elias.barquero.calvo@una.cr M. Ramírez Departamento de Patología Aviar, Escuela de Medicina Veterinaria, Universidad Nacional de Costa Rica, Heredia, Costa Rica e-mail: marciar228@hotmail.com A. Alape-Girón Instituto Clodomiro Picado, Facultad de Microbiología, Universidad de Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica Departamento de Bioquímica, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Costa Rica, San José, Costa Rica e-mail: ALBERTO.ALAPE@ucr.ac.cr # Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2016 P. Gopalakrishnakone et al. (eds.), Microbial Toxins, Toxinology, DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-6725-6_15-1 1