The Conserved Spore Coat Protein SpoVM Is Largely Dispensable in Clostridium difficile Spore Formation.

ABSTRACT: The spore-forming bacterial pathogen Clostridium difficile is a leading cause of health care-associated infections in the United States. In order for this obligate anaerobe to transmit infection, it must form metabolically dormant spores prior to exiting the host. A key step during this process is the assembly of a protective, multilayered proteinaceous coat around the spore. Coat assembly depends on coat morphogenetic proteins recruiting distinct subsets of coat proteins to the developing spore. While 10 coat morphogenetic proteins have been identified in Bacillus subtilis, only two of these morphogenetic proteins have homologs in the Clostridia: SpoIVA and SpoVM. C. difficile SpoIVA is critical for proper coat assembly and functional spore formation, but the r

SUBMITTER: Ribis JW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5607322 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Sep-Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature