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CotL, a new morphogenetic spore coat protein of Clostridium difficile
Author(s) -
Alves Feliciano Carolina,
Douché Thibaut,
Giai Gianetto Quentin,
Matondo Mariette,
MartinVerstraete Isabelle,
Dupuy Bruno
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
environmental microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.954
H-Index - 188
eISSN - 1462-2920
pISSN - 1462-2912
DOI - 10.1111/1462-2920.14505
Subject(s) - spore , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , mutant , coat , lysozyme , clostridium difficile , spore germination , gene , genetics , antibiotics , paleontology
Summary The strict anaerobe Clostridium difficile is the most common cause of antibiotic‐associated diarrhoea. The oxygen‐resistant C. difficile spores play a central role in the infectious cycle, contributing to transmission, infection and recurrence. The spore surface layers, the coat and exosporium, enable the spores to resist physical and chemical stress. However, little is known about the mechanisms of their assembly. In this study, we characterized a new spore protein, CotL, which is required for the assembly of the spore coat. The cotL gene was expressed in the mother cell compartment under the dual control of the RNA polymerase sigma factors, σ E and σ K . CotL was localized in the spore coat, and the spores of the cotL mutant had a major morphologic defect at the level of the coat/exosporium layers. Therefore, the mutant spores contained a reduced amount of several coat/exosporium proteins and a defect in their localization in sporulating cells. Finally, cotL mutant spores were more sensitive to lysozyme and were impaired in germination, a phenotype likely to be associated with the structurally altered coat. Collectively, these results strongly suggest that CotL is a morphogenetic protein essential for the assembly of the spore coat in C. difficile .