Sporulation and Germination in Clostridial Pathogens

As obligate anaerobes, clostridial pathogens depend on their metabolically dormant, oxygen-tolerant spore form to transmit disease. However, the molecular mechanisms by which those spores germinate to initiate infection and then form new spores to transmit infection remain poorly understood. While s...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Microbiology spectrum 2019-11, Vol.7 (6)
Main Authors: Shen, Aimee, Edwards, Adrianne N, Sarker, Mahfuzur R, Paredes-Sabja, Daniel
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Bacterial Genetics, Cell Biology, Physiology
Clostridium
Clostridium - classification
Clostridium - genetics
Clostridium - growth & development
Clostridium - pathogenicity
Clostridium Infections
Clostridium Infections - microbiology
Humans
Spores, Bacterial
Spores, Bacterial - classification
Spores, Bacterial - genetics
Spores, Bacterial - growth & development
Spores, Bacterial - metabolism
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Summary:As obligate anaerobes, clostridial pathogens depend on their metabolically dormant, oxygen-tolerant spore form to transmit disease. However, the molecular mechanisms by which those spores germinate to initiate infection and then form new spores to transmit infection remain poorly understood. While sporulation and germination have been well characterized in and , striking differences in the regulation of these processes have been observed between the bacilli and the clostridia, with even some conserved proteins exhibiting differences in their requirements and functions. Here, we review our current understanding of how clostridial pathogens, specifically , , and , induce sporulation in response to environmental cues, assemble resistant spores, and germinate metabolically dormant spores in response to environmental cues. We also discuss the direct relationship between toxin production and spore formation in these pathogens.
ISSN:2165-0497
2165-0497
DOI:10.1128/microbiolspec.GPP3-0017-2018