ArticlePLoS pathogens2018
Clostridium difficile exosporium cysteine-rich proteins are essential for the morphogenesis of the exosporium layer, spore resistance, and affect C. difficile pathogenesis.
Article in PLoS pathogens, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 37 papers.
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Who cites it
37 citing papers in PubMed, 73 citations in OpenAlex.
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- Development and Evaluation of Exosporium-Anchored Bioluminescent and Fluorescent Reporters for TrackingACS synthetic biology · 2026Article
- Phylogenomic analysis of the collagen-like BclA proteins inApplied and environmental microbiology · 2026Article
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- Discovery of a Widespread Polyamine-Low-Molecular-Weight Thiol Hybrid Pathway inACS infectious diseases · 2025Article
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- Bile acids as germinants for Clostridioides difficile spores, evidence of adaptation to the gut?FEMS microbiology reviews · 2025Review
- A multivalent mRNA-LNP vaccine protects againstScience (New York, N.Y.) · 2024Article
- The Impact of YabG Mutations on Clostridioides difficile Spore Germination and Processing of Spore Substrates.Molecular microbiology · 2024Article
- Role of glycogen metabolism inmSphere · 2024Article
- Spores of Clostridioides difficile are toxin delivery vehicles.Communications biology · 2024Article
- The impact of YabG mutations onbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2024Article
- Clostridioides difficile Sporulation.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2024Review
- A sporulation signature protease is required for assembly of the spore surface layers, germination and host colonization in Clostridioides difficile.PLoS pathogens · 2023Article
- Mucosal Vaccination Strategies againstVaccines · 2023Review
- Redistribution of the Novel Clostridioides difficile Spore Adherence Receptor E-Cadherin by TcdA and TcdB Increases Spore Binding to Adherens Junctions.Infection and immunity · 2023Article
- Review
- Role of the Spore Coat ProteinsMicroorganisms · 2022Article
- Sporulation Strategies and Potential Role of the Exosporium in Survival and Persistence ofInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Clostridium difficile is a Gram-positive spore-former bacterium and the leading cause of nosocomial antibiotic-associated diarrhea that can culminate in fatal colitis. During the infection, C. difficile produces metabolically dormant spores, which persist in the host and can cause recurrence of the infection. The surface of C. difficile spores seems to be the key in spore-host interactions and persistence. The proteome of the outermost exosporium layer of C. difficile spores has been determined, identifying two cysteine-rich exosporium proteins, CdeC and CdeM. In this work, we explore the contribution of both cysteine-rich proteins in exosporium integrity, spore biology and pathogenesis. Using targeted mutagenesis coupled with transmission electron microscopy we demonstrate that both cysteine rich proteins, CdeC and CdeM, are morphogenetic factors of the exosporium layer of C. difficile spores. Notably, cdeC, but not cdeM spores, exhibited defective spore coat, and were more sensitive to ethanol, heat and phagocytic cells. In a healthy colonic mucosa (mouse ileal loop assay), cdeC and cdeM spore adherence was lower than that of wild-type spores; while in a mouse model of recurrence of the disease, cdeC mutant exhibited an increased infection and persistence during recurrence. In a competitive infection mouse model, cdeC mutant had increased fitness over wild-type. Through complementation analysis with FLAG fusion of known exosporium and coat proteins, we demonstrate that CdeC and CdeM are required for the recruitment of several exosporium proteins to the surface of C. difficile spores. CdeC appears to be conserved exclusively in related Peptostreptococcaeace family members, while CdeM is unique to C. difficile. Our results sheds light on how CdeC and CdeM affect the biology of C. difficile spores and the assembly of the exosporium layer and, demonstrate that CdeC affect C. difficile pathogenesis.
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