Initiation of sporulation in Clostridium difficile: a twist on the classic model

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Adrianne Edwards, Emory University; Shonna McBride, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2014-09-01
• Publisher: Oxford University Press (OUP): Policy B - Oxford Open Option D
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: © 2014 Federation of European Microbiological Societies. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. All rights reserved.
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/1574-6968.12499
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: FEMS Microbiology Letters
• ISSN: 0378-1097
• Volume: 358
• Issue: 2
• Start Page: 110
• End Page: 118
• Grant/Funding Information: This work was supported by the U.S. National Institutes of Health through research grants DK087763 and DK101870 to S.M.M.
• Keywords: TOXIN GENE-EXPRESSION; ENDOSPORE FORMATION; STATIONARY-PHASE; BACILLUS-SUBTILIS; spores; PROTEIN-KINASE; Microbiology; CHROMOSOME SEGREGATION; Life Sciences & Biomedicine; HISTIDINE KINASES; anaerobe; CATABOLITE REPRESSION; REGULATORY PROTEINS; phosphorylation; TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR SPO0A; Science & Technology; nutrition; endospore; sporulation
• Research Categories: Biology, Microbiology

Abstract

The formation of dormant endospores is a complex morphological process that permits long-term survival in inhospitable environments for many Gram-positive bacteria. Sporulation for the anaerobic gastrointestinal pathogen Clostridium difficile is necessary for survival outside of the gastrointestinal tract of its host. While the developmental stages of spore formation are largely conserved among endospore-forming bacteria, the genus Clostridium appears to be missing a number of conserved regulators required for efficient sporulation in other spore-forming bacteria. Several recent studies have discovered novel mechanisms and distinct regulatory pathways that control the initiation of sporulation and early-sporulation-specific gene expression. These differences in regulating the decision to undergo sporulation reflects the unique ecological niche and environmental conditions that C. difficile inhabits and encounters within the mammalian host.