ArticleMolecular microbiology2009
A novel genetic switch controls phase variable expression of CwpV, a Clostridium difficile cell wall protein.
Article in Molecular microbiology, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 68 papers.
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Who cites it
68 citing papers in PubMed, 105 citations in OpenAlex.
- A programmed reset mechanism primesScience advances · 2026Article
- Phase variable colony morphotypes ofInfection and immunity · 2026Article
- Phylogenomic analysis of the collagen-like BclA proteins inApplied and environmental microbiology · 2026Article
- Phase variation inEngineering microbiology · 2026Article
- Phase variable colony morphotypes ofbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Pleiotropic roles of the MATE transporter CD20030 inFrontiers in microbiology · 2026Article
- Flagellar switch inverted repeats impact heterogeneity in flagellar gene expression and thus C. difficile RT027/MLST1 virulence.Cell reports · 2025Article
- Pathogenicity and virulence ofVirulence · 2023Review
- The RgaS-RgaR two-component system promotes Clostridioides difficile sporulation through a small RNA and the Agr1 system.PLoS genetics · 2023Article
- The RgaS-RgaR two-component system promotesbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2023Article
- A network of small RNAs regulates sporulation initiation in Clostridioides difficile.The EMBO journal · 2023Article
- Article
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- Identification of a Bile Acid-Binding Transcription Factor inACS chemical biology · 2022Article
- Coordinated modulation of multiple processes through phase variation of a c-di-GMP phosphodiesterase in Clostridioides difficile.PLoS pathogens · 2022Article
- Wolf in Sheep's Clothing:Microorganisms · 2021Review
- Clostridioides difficile phage biology and application.FEMS microbiology reviews · 2021Review
- An RNA-centric global view ofProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2021Article
- Article
- Site-Specific Recombination - How Simple DNA Inversions Produce Complex Phenotypic Heterogeneity in Bacterial Populations.Trends in genetics : TIG · 2021Review
8 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Clostridium difficile is a nosocomial pathogen that can cause severe gastrointestinal infections. C. difficile encodes a family of cell wall proteins, some of which are implicated in pathogenesis. Here we have characterized CwpV, the largest member of this family. CwpV is surface expressed and post-translationally processed in a manner analogous to the major S-layer protein SlpA. Expression of cwpV is phase variable, with approximately 5% of cells in a population expressing the protein under standard laboratory growth conditions. Upstream of cwpV, inverted repeats flank a 195 bp sequence which undergoes DNA inversion. Use of a gusA transcriptional reporter demonstrated that phase variation is mediated by DNA inversion; in one orientation cwpV is expressed while in the opposite orientation the gene is silent. The inversion region contains neither the promoter nor any of the open reading frame, therefore this system differs from previously described phase variation mechanisms. The cwpV promoter is located upstream of the inversion region and we propose a model of phase variation based on intrinsic terminator formation in the OFF transcript. A C. difficile site-specific recombinase able to catalyse the inversion has been identified.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.