Abstract
Clostridium sordellii is an often-lethal bacterium causing human and animal disease. Crucial to the infectious cycle of C. sordellii is its ability to produce spores, which can germinate into toxin-producing vegetative bacteria under favorable conditions. However, structural details of the C. sordellii spore are lacking. Here, we used a range of electron microscopy techniques together with superresolution optical microscopy to characterize the C. sordellii spore morphology with an emphasis on the exosporium. The C. sordellii spore is made up of multiple layers with the exosporium presenting as a smooth balloon-like structure that is open at the spore poles. Focusing on the outer spore layers, we compared the morphologies of C. sordellii spores derived from different strains and determined that there is some variation between the spores, most notably with spores of some strains having tubular appendages. Since Clostridium difficile is a close relative of C. sordellii, their spores were compared by electron microscopy and their exosporia were found to be distinctly different from each other. This study therefore provides new structural details of the C. sordellii spore and offers insights into the physical structure of the exosporium across clostridial species.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | e00343-17 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | mSphere |
| Volume | 2 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Sep 2017 |
Keywords
- Clostridium
- Clostridium difficile
- Clostridium sordellii
- Endospores
- Exosporium
Cite this
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Structural characterization of Clostridium sordellii spores of diverse human, animal, and environmental origin and comparison to Clostridium difficile spores. / Rabi, Rebecca; Turnbull, Lynne; Whitchurch, Cynthia B.; Awad, Milena; Lyras, Dena.
In: mSphere, Vol. 2, No. 5, e00343-17, 01.09.2017.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Research › peer-review
TY - JOUR
T1 - Structural characterization of Clostridium sordellii spores of diverse human, animal, and environmental origin and comparison to Clostridium difficile spores
AU - Rabi, Rebecca
AU - Turnbull, Lynne
AU - Whitchurch, Cynthia B.
AU - Awad, Milena
AU - Lyras, Dena
PY - 2017/9/1
Y1 - 2017/9/1
N2 - Clostridium sordellii is an often-lethal bacterium causing human and animal disease. Crucial to the infectious cycle of C. sordellii is its ability to produce spores, which can germinate into toxin-producing vegetative bacteria under favorable conditions. However, structural details of the C. sordellii spore are lacking. Here, we used a range of electron microscopy techniques together with superresolution optical microscopy to characterize the C. sordellii spore morphology with an emphasis on the exosporium. The C. sordellii spore is made up of multiple layers with the exosporium presenting as a smooth balloon-like structure that is open at the spore poles. Focusing on the outer spore layers, we compared the morphologies of C. sordellii spores derived from different strains and determined that there is some variation between the spores, most notably with spores of some strains having tubular appendages. Since Clostridium difficile is a close relative of C. sordellii, their spores were compared by electron microscopy and their exosporia were found to be distinctly different from each other. This study therefore provides new structural details of the C. sordellii spore and offers insights into the physical structure of the exosporium across clostridial species.
AB - Clostridium sordellii is an often-lethal bacterium causing human and animal disease. Crucial to the infectious cycle of C. sordellii is its ability to produce spores, which can germinate into toxin-producing vegetative bacteria under favorable conditions. However, structural details of the C. sordellii spore are lacking. Here, we used a range of electron microscopy techniques together with superresolution optical microscopy to characterize the C. sordellii spore morphology with an emphasis on the exosporium. The C. sordellii spore is made up of multiple layers with the exosporium presenting as a smooth balloon-like structure that is open at the spore poles. Focusing on the outer spore layers, we compared the morphologies of C. sordellii spores derived from different strains and determined that there is some variation between the spores, most notably with spores of some strains having tubular appendages. Since Clostridium difficile is a close relative of C. sordellii, their spores were compared by electron microscopy and their exosporia were found to be distinctly different from each other. This study therefore provides new structural details of the C. sordellii spore and offers insights into the physical structure of the exosporium across clostridial species.
KW - Clostridium
KW - Clostridium difficile
KW - Clostridium sordellii
KW - Endospores
KW - Exosporium
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85041521662&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1128/mSphere.00343-17
DO - 10.1128/mSphere.00343-17
M3 - Article
VL - 2
JO - mSphere
JF - mSphere
SN - 2379-5042
IS - 5
M1 - e00343-17
ER -