Phase Variation of Flagella and Toxins in Clostridioides difficile is Mediated by Selective Rho-dependent Termination.

ABSTRACT: Clostridioides difficile is an intestinal pathogen that exhibits phase variation of flagella and toxins through inversion of the flagellar (flg) switch controlling flagellar and toxin gene expression. The transcription termination factor Rho preferentially inhibits swimming motility of bacteria with the 'flg-OFF' switch sequence. How C. difficile Rho mediates this selectivity was unknown. C. difficile Rho contains an N-terminal insertion domain (NID) which is found in a subset of Rho orthologues and confers diverse functions. Here we determined how Rho distinguishes between flg-ON and -OFF mRNAs and the roles of the NID and other domains of C. difficile Rho. Using in vitro ATPase assays, we determined that Rho specifically binds a region containing the left inverted repeat of the flg switc

SUBMITTER: Warren Norris MAH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10942720 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature