ABSTRACT

Clostridioides difficile (C. difficile) is a Gram-positive, spore-forming, toxin-producing, obligate anaerobic bacterium. C. difficile infection (CDI) is the leading cause of healthcare-associated infective diarrhoea. The infection is mediated by the spore, a metabolically inactive form of C. difficile. The spore coat acts as a physical barrier to defend against chemical insults from hosts and natural environments. The composition of spore coat has already been revealed; therefore, the interactive networks of spore coat proteins and the dynamic process of coat assembly are the keys to design strategies to control and cure CDI. This review gives a brief discussion of the signal processing and transcriptional regulation of C. difficile sporulation initiation. Following the discussion, the spore formation is also introduced. Finally, this review mainly focuses on the spore coat assembly, a poorly understood process in C. difficile, and important proteins that have been studied.

摘要

艰难梭菌（C. difficile）是革兰氏阳性、产芽孢、产毒、专性厌氧细菌。艰难梭菌感染 (CDI) 是医疗保健相关感染性腹泻的主要原因。感染是由孢子介导的，孢子是一种新陈代谢不活跃的艰难梭菌形式。孢子衣充当物理屏障，以抵御来自宿主和自然环境的化学侵害。孢子衣的成分已经揭示；因此，孢子外壳蛋白的交互网络和外壳组装的动态过程是设计控制和治疗 CDI 策略的关键。这篇综述简要讨论了艰难梭菌的信号处理和转录调控孢子形成起始。在讨论之后，还介绍了孢子的形成。最后，这篇综述主要关注孢子外壳组装、艰难梭菌中一个鲜为人知的过程，以及已研究的重要蛋白质。