A Clostridium difficile alanine racemase affects spore germination and accommodates serine as a substrate.

ABSTRACT: Clostridium difficile has become one of the most common bacterial pathogens in hospital-acquired infections in the United States. Although C. difficile is strictly anaerobic, it survives in aerobic environments and transmits between hosts via spores. C. difficile spore germination is triggered in response to certain bile acids and glycine. Although glycine is the most effective co-germinant, other amino acids can substitute with varying efficiencies. Of these, l-alanine is an effective co-germinant and is also a germinant for most bacterial spores. Many endospore-forming bacteria embed alanine racemases into their spore coats, and these enzymes are thought to convert the l-alanine germinant into d-alanine, a spore germination inhibitor. Although the C. difficile

SUBMITTER: Shrestha R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5481577 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature