Genetic mechanisms governing sporulation initiation in Clostridioides difficile

[Display omitted] •The master transcriptional regulator of sporulation in C. difficile is Spo0A.•Spo0A activity depends on phosphorylation.•Diverse regulators translate environmental signals to impact Spo0A phosphorylation.•This complex regulatory network ensures sporulation initiates only when requ...

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Published in:Current opinion in microbiology 2022-04, Vol.66, p.32-38
Main Authors: Lee, Cheyenne D, Rizvi, Arshad, Edwards, Adrianne N, DiCandia, Michael A, Vargas Cuebas, Germán G, Monteiro, Marcos P, McBride, Shonna M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Anti-Bacterial Agents - pharmacology
Bacterial Proteins - genetics
Bacterial Proteins - metabolism
Clostridioides
Clostridioides difficile - genetics
Mammals
Spores, Bacterial - genetics
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Summary:[Display omitted] •The master transcriptional regulator of sporulation in C. difficile is Spo0A.•Spo0A activity depends on phosphorylation.•Diverse regulators translate environmental signals to impact Spo0A phosphorylation.•This complex regulatory network ensures sporulation initiates only when required. As an anaerobe, Clostridioides difficile relies on the formation of a dormant spore for survival outside of the mammalian host’s gastrointestinal tract. The spore is recalcitrant to desiccation, numerous disinfectants, UV light, and antibiotics, permitting long-term survival against environmental insults and efficient transmission from host to host. Although the morphological stages of spore formation are similar between C. difficile and other well-studied endospore-forming bacteria, the C. difficile genome does not appear to encode many of the known, conserved regulatory factors that are necessary to initiate sporulation in other spore-forming bacteria. The absence of early sporulation-specific orthologs suggests that C. difficile has evolved to control sporulation initiation in response to its unique and specific ecological niche and environmental cues within the host. Here, we review our current understanding and highlight the recent discoveries that have begun to unravel the regulatory pathways and molecular mechanisms by which C. difficile induces spore formation.
ISSN:1369-5274
1879-0364
DOI:10.1016/j.mib.2021.12.001