ArticlePLoS pathogens2020
Rho factor mediates flagellum and toxin phase variation and impacts virulence in Clostridioides difficile.
Article in PLoS pathogens, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers.
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Who cites it
27 citing papers in PubMed, 39 citations in OpenAlex.
- A programmed reset mechanism primesScience advances · 2026Article
- Clostridioides difficile pathogenesis and control.Nature reviews. Microbiology · 2026Review
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- Analysis of essential genes inJournal of bacteriology · 2025Article
- Challenges and opportunities in mRNA vaccine development against bacteria.Nature microbiology · 2025Review
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- Analysis of Essential Genes inbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Diversification of the Rho transcription termination factor in bacteria.Nucleic acids research · 2024Article
- Article
- Phase Variation of Flagella and Toxins in Clostridioides difficile is Mediated by Selective Rho-dependent Termination.Journal of molecular biology · 2024Article
- Review
- Article
- Nanobodies against C. difficile TcdA and TcdB reveal unexpected neutralizing epitopes and provide a toolkit for toxin quantitation in vivo.PLoS pathogens · 2023Article
- The cell wall lipoprotein CD1687 acts as a DNA binding protein during deoxycholate-induced biofilm formation in Clostridioides difficile.NPJ biofilms and microbiomes · 2023Article
- Regulatory transcription factors ofCritical reviews in microbiology · 2023Review
- Termination factor Rho mediates transcriptional reprogramming of Bacillus subtilis stationary phase.PLoS genetics · 2023Article
- Stochastic activation of a family of TetR type transcriptional regulators controls phenotypic heterogeneity inPNAS nexus · 2022Article
- Coordinated modulation of multiple processes through phase variation of a c-di-GMP phosphodiesterase in Clostridioides difficile.PLoS pathogens · 2022Article
- Article
- Wolf in Sheep's Clothing:Microorganisms · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
The intestinal pathogen Clostridioides difficile exhibits heterogeneity in motility and toxin production. This phenotypic heterogeneity is achieved through phase variation by site-specific recombination via the DNA recombinase RecV, which reversibly inverts the "flagellar switch" upstream of the flgB operon. A recV mutation prevents flagellar switch inversion and results in phenotypically locked strains. The orientation of the flagellar switch influences expression of the flgB operon post-transcription initiation, but the specific molecular mechanism is unknown. Here, we report the isolation and characterization of spontaneous suppressor mutants in the non-motile, non-toxigenic recV flg OFF background that regained motility and toxin production. The restored phenotypes corresponded with increased expression of flagellum and toxin genes. The motile suppressor mutants contained single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in rho, which encodes the bacterial transcription terminator Rho factor. Analyses using transcriptional reporters indicate that Rho contributes to heterogeneity in flagellar gene expression by preferentially terminating transcription of flg OFF mRNA within the 5' leader sequence. Additionally, Rho is important for initial colonization of the intestine in a mouse model of infection, which may in part be due to the sporulation and growth defects observed in the rho mutants. Together these data implicate Rho factor as a regulator of gene expression affecting phase variation of important virulence factors of C. difficile.
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