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PMID: 18245298 Published · ppublish English Journal Article Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

Bile salts and glycine as cogerminants for Clostridium difficile spores.

Journal of bacteriology ·Vol. 190 ·No. 7 ·2008-04-00 ·Pages 2505-12

Sorg JA, Sonenshein AL

Abstract

Spore formation by Clostridium difficile is a significant obstacle to overcoming hospital-acquired C. difficile-associated disease. Spores are resistant to heat, radiation, chemicals, and antibiotics, making a contaminated environment difficult to clean. To cause disease, however, spores must germinate and grow out as vegetative cells. The germination of C. difficile spores has not been examined in detail. In an effort to understand the germination of C. difficile spores, we characterized the response of C. difficile spores to bile. We found that cholate derivatives and the amino acid glycine act as cogerminants. Deoxycholate, a metabolite of cholate produced by the normal intestinal flora, also induced germination of C. difficile spores but prevented the growth of vegetative C. difficile. A model of resistance to C. difficile colonization mediated by the normal bacterial flora is proposed.

MeSH Terms
Bile Acids and Salts/chemistry,pharmacology Cholates/chemistry,pharmacology Clostridioides difficile/drug effects,physiology Deoxycholic Acid/chemistry,pharmacology Glycine/chemistry,pharmacology Glycocholic Acid/chemistry,pharmacology Molecular Structure Spores, Bacterial/drug effects,physiology Taurocholic Acid/chemistry,pharmacology
Chemicals
Bile Acids and Salts Cholates Deoxycholic Acid Taurocholic Acid Glycocholic Acid Glycine
Authors & Affiliations
2 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Sorg Joseph A
Department of Molecular Biology and Microbiology, Tufts University School of Medicine, 136 Harrison Avenue, Boston, MA 02111, USA.
Sonenshein Abraham L
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Article Info
Journal
Journal of bacteriology
Abbr.
J Bacteriol
ISSN
1098-5530
DOI
10.1128/JB.01765-07
Published
2008-04-00
Epub
2008-00-01
Pages
2505-12
Language
English
Region
United States
NLM ID
2985120R
PMCID
PMC2293200
Subset
IM
Grants
NIGMS NIH HHS · K12 GM074869-02 · United States
NIAID NIH HHS · N01AI30050 · United States
NIGMS NIH HHS · K12 GM074869 · United States
NIAID NIH HHS · N01-AI-30050 · United States
NIGMS NIH HHS · R01 GM042219 · United States
External Links
PubMed source DOI: 10.1128/JB.01765-07 PMC Full Text View journal details
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