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Review
. 2022 Feb:65:101-107.
doi: 10.1016/j.mib.2021.11.001. Epub 2021 Nov 19.

Clostridioides difficile spore germination: initiation to DPA release

Marko Baloh  1 , Joseph A Sorg  2
Affiliations
Review

Clostridioides difficile spore germination: initiation to DPA release

Marko Baloh et al. Curr Opin Microbiol. 2022 Feb.

Abstract

Germination by Clostridioides difficile spores is an essential step in pathogenesis. Spores are metabolically dormant forms of bacteria that resist severe conditions. Work over the last 10 years has elucidated that C. difficile spores germinate thorough a novel pathway. This review summarizes our understanding of C. difficile spore germination and the factors involved in germinant recognition, cortex degradation and DPA release.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of interests

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.. Working model for C. difficile spore germination.
(A) The CspC and CspA pseudoproteases bind to and inhibit the CspB protease from gaining access to the cortex-degrading SleC zymogen. Upon germinant sensing, CspC and CspA disassociate from CspB resulting in CspB cleaving the inhibitory pro-peptide from pro-SleC. Activated SleC degrades the spore cortex. (B) In a dormant spore, the mechanosensing membrane protein, SpoVAC, is in a closed state and prevents the release of the large amounts of DPA from the spore core. Upon degradation of the spore cortex layer, a change in osmolarity is perceived at the inner spore membrane and this results in SpoVAC opening to release DPA. Created with Biorender.com.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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