Single-spore germination analyses reveal that calcium released during Clostridioides difficile germination functions in a feedforward loop.

ABSTRACT: Clostridioides difficile infections begin when its metabolically dormant spores germinate in response to sensing bile acid germinants alongside amino acid and divalent cation co-germinants in the small intestine. While bile acid germinants are essential for C. difficile spore germination, it is currently unclear whether both co-germinant signals are required. One model proposes that divalent cations, particularly Ca²⁺, are essential for inducing germination, while another proposes that either co-germinant class can induce germination. The former model is based on the finding that spores defective in releasing large stores of internal Ca²⁺ in the form of calcium dipicolinic acid (CaDPA) cannot germinate when germination is induced with bile acid germinant

SUBMITTER: Ribis JW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10449524 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature