Fight or flee, a vital choice for <i>Clostridioides difficile</i>

Ji Zeng; Shuying Fang; Jinquan Guo; Min Dong; Guo-Bao Tian; Liang Tao

doi:10.1002/mlf2.12102

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mLife ›› 2024, Vol. 3 ›› Issue (1) : 14-20. DOI: 10.1002/mlf2.12102

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Fight or flee, a vital choice for Clostridioides difficile

Ji Zeng¹ ,
Shuying Fang¹ ,
Jinquan Guo² ,
Min Dong³^,⁴ ,
Guo-Bao Tian⁵^,⁶^,⁷^,⁸ ,
Liang Tao⁹^,¹⁰

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Abstract

Clostridioides difficile is a leading cause of healthcare-associated infections, causing billions of economic losses every year. Its symptoms range from mild diarrhea to life-threatening damage to the colon. Transmission and recurrence of C. difficile infection (CDI) are mediated by the metabolically dormant spores, while the virulence of C. difficile is mainly due to the two large clostridial toxins, TcdA and TcdB. Producing toxins or forming spores are two different strategies for C. difficile to cope with harsh environmental conditions. It is of great significance to understand the molecular mechanisms for C. difficile to skew to either of the cellular processes. Here, we summarize the current understanding of the regulation and connections between toxin production and sporulation in C. difficile and further discuss the potential solutions for yet-to-be-answered questions.

Keywords

C. difficile / sporulation / TcdA / TcdB / toxin production

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Ji Zeng, Shuying Fang, Jinquan Guo, Min Dong, Guo-Bao Tian, Liang Tao. Fight or flee, a vital choice for Clostridioides difficile. mLife, 2024, 3(1): 14‒20 https://doi.org/10.1002/mlf2.12102