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2024 , Vol. 3 >Issue 1: 14 - 20

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/mlf2.12102

Fight or flee, a vital choice for Clostridioides difficile

  • Ji Zeng , 1 ,
  • Shuying Fang 1 ,
  • Jinquan Guo 2 ,
  • Min Dong 3,4 ,
  • Guo-Bao Tian , 5,6,7,8 ,
  • Liang Tao , 9,10
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  • 1. School of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou, China.
  • 2. Department of Brest Surgery, Panyu Central Hospital, Guangzhou, China.
  • 3. Department of Microbiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
  • 4. Department of Urology, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
  • 5. Department of Microbiology, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
  • 6. Advanced Medical Technology Center, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
  • 7. Key Laboratory of Tropical Diseases Control (Sun Yat-sen University), Ministry of Education, Guangzhou, China.
  • 8. School of Medicine, Xizang Minzu University, Xianyang, China.
  • 9. Center for Infectious Disease Research, Westlake Laboratory of Life Sciences and Biomedicine, Westlake University, Hangzhou, China.
  • 10. Research Center for Industries of the Future, School of Life Sciences, Westlake University, Hangzhou, China.
zengji@gdut.edu.cn
tiangb@mail.sysu.edu.cn
taoliang@westlake.edu.cn

Received date: 10 Jul 2023

Accepted date: 08 Oct 2023

Copyright

2024 2024 The Authors. mLife published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
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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.

Key words： C. difficile; sporulation; TcdA; TcdB; toxin production

Cite this article

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

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