Negative interactions determine Clostridioides difficile growth in synthetic human gut communities.

ABSTRACT: Understanding the principles of colonization resistance of the gut microbiome to the pathogen Clostridioides difficile will enable the design of defined bacterial therapeutics. We investigate the ecological principles of community resistance to C. difficile using a synthetic human gut microbiome. Using a dynamic computational model, we demonstrate that C. difficile receives the largest number and magnitude of incoming negative interactions. Our results show that C. difficile is in a unique class of species that display a strong negative dependence between growth and species richness. We identify molecular mechanisms of inhibition including acidification of the environment and competition over resources. We demonstrate that Clostridium hiranonis strongly inhibits C. difficile partially via

SUBMITTER: Hromada S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8543057 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature