Clostridium difficile spore biology: sporulation, germination, and spore structural proteins. Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • Clostridium difficile is a Gram-positive, spore-forming obligate anaerobe and a major nosocomial pathogen of worldwide concern. Owing to its strict anaerobic requirements, the infectious and transmissible morphotype is the dormant spore. In susceptible patients, C. difficile spores germinate in the colon to form the vegetative cells that initiate Clostridium difficile infections (CDI). During CDI, C. difficile induces a sporulation pathway that produces more spores; these spores are responsible for the persistence of C. difficile in patients and horizontal transmission between hospitalized patients. Although important to the C. difficile lifecycle, the C. difficile spore proteome is poorly conserved when compared to members of the Bacillus genus. Further, recent studies have revealed significant differences between C. difficile and Bacillus subtilis at the level of sporulation, germination, and spore coat and exosporium morphogenesis. In this review, the regulation of the sporulation and germination pathways and the morphogenesis of the spore coat and exosporium will be discussed.

published proceedings

  • Trends Microbiol

altmetric score

  • 10.83

author list (cited authors)

  • Paredes-Sabja, D., Shen, A., & Sorg, J. A.

citation count

  • 294

complete list of authors

  • Paredes-Sabja, Daniel||Shen, Aimee||Sorg, Joseph A

publication date

  • January 2014