ABSTRACT
Clostridium difficile is a major cause of chronic antibiotic-associated diarrhea and a significant health care-associated pathogen that forms highly resistant and infectious spores. Spo0A is a highly conserved transcriptional regulator that plays a key role in initiating sporulation in Bacillus and Clostridium species. Here, we use a murine model to study the role of the C. difficile spo0A gene during infection and transmission. We demonstrate that C. difficile spo0A mutant derivatives can cause intestinal disease but are unable to persist within and effectively transmit between mice. Thus, the C. difficile Spo0A protein plays a key role in persistent infection, including recurrence and host-to-host transmission in mice.
FOOTNOTES
- Received 16 February 2012.
- Returned for modification 5 March 2012.
- Accepted 14 May 2012.
- Accepted manuscript posted online 21 May 2012.
Supplemental material for this article may be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/IAI.00147-12.
- Copyright © 2012, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
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