An intact S-layer is advantageous to Clostridioides difficile within the host.

Clostridioides difficile is responsible for substantial morbidity and mortality in antibiotically-treated, hospitalised, elderly patients, in which toxin production correlates with diarrhoeal disease. While the function of these toxins has been studied in detail, the contribution of other factors, i...

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Main Authors: Michael J Ormsby, Filipa Vaz, Joseph A Kirk, Anna Barwinska-Sendra, Jennifer C Hallam, Paola Lanzoni-Mangutchi, John Cole, Roy R Chaudhuri, Paula S Salgado, Robert P Fagan, Gillian R Douce
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2023-06-01
Series:PLoS Pathogens
Online Access:https://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.ppat.1011015&type=printable
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author Michael J Ormsby
Filipa Vaz
Joseph A Kirk
Anna Barwinska-Sendra
Jennifer C Hallam
Paola Lanzoni-Mangutchi
John Cole
Roy R Chaudhuri
Paula S Salgado
Robert P Fagan
Gillian R Douce
author_facet Michael J Ormsby
Filipa Vaz
Joseph A Kirk
Anna Barwinska-Sendra
Jennifer C Hallam
Paola Lanzoni-Mangutchi
John Cole
Roy R Chaudhuri
Paula S Salgado
Robert P Fagan
Gillian R Douce
author_sort Michael J Ormsby
collection DOAJ
description Clostridioides difficile is responsible for substantial morbidity and mortality in antibiotically-treated, hospitalised, elderly patients, in which toxin production correlates with diarrhoeal disease. While the function of these toxins has been studied in detail, the contribution of other factors, including the paracrystalline surface layer (S-layer), to disease is less well understood. Here, we highlight the essentiality of the S-layer in vivo by reporting the recovery of S-layer variants, following infection with the S-layer-null strain, FM2.5. These variants carry either correction of the original point mutation, or sequence modifications which restored the reading frame, and translation of slpA. Selection of these variant clones was rapid in vivo, and independent of toxin production, with up to 90% of the recovered C. difficile population encoding modified slpA sequence within 24 h post infection. Two variants, subsequently named FM2.5varA and FM2.5varB, were selected for study in greater detail. Structural determination of SlpA from FM2.5varB indicated an alteration in the orientation of protein domains, resulting in a reorganisation of the lattice assembly, and changes in interacting interfaces, which might alter function. Interestingly, variant FM2.5varB displayed an attenuated, FM2.5-like phenotype in vivo compared to FM2.5varA, which caused disease severity more comparable to that of R20291. Comparative RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) analysis of in vitro grown isolates revealed large changes in gene expression between R20291 and FM2.5. Downregulation of tcdA/tcdB and several genes associated with sporulation and cell wall integrity may account for the reported attenuated phenotype of FM2.5 in vivo. RNA-seq data correlated well with disease severity with the more virulent variant, FM2.5varA, showing s similar profile of gene expression to R20291 in vitro, while the attenuated FM2.5varB showed downregulation of many of the same virulence associated traits as FM2.5. Cumulatively, these data add to a growing body of evidence that the S-layer contributes to C. difficile pathogenesis and disease severity.
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spelling doaj-art-29ae89a68e0640afb2755f72cda254922025-08-20T02:22:26ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS Pathogens1553-73661553-73742023-06-01196e101101510.1371/journal.ppat.1011015An intact S-layer is advantageous to Clostridioides difficile within the host.Michael J OrmsbyFilipa VazJoseph A KirkAnna Barwinska-SendraJennifer C HallamPaola Lanzoni-MangutchiJohn ColeRoy R ChaudhuriPaula S SalgadoRobert P FaganGillian R DouceClostridioides difficile is responsible for substantial morbidity and mortality in antibiotically-treated, hospitalised, elderly patients, in which toxin production correlates with diarrhoeal disease. While the function of these toxins has been studied in detail, the contribution of other factors, including the paracrystalline surface layer (S-layer), to disease is less well understood. Here, we highlight the essentiality of the S-layer in vivo by reporting the recovery of S-layer variants, following infection with the S-layer-null strain, FM2.5. These variants carry either correction of the original point mutation, or sequence modifications which restored the reading frame, and translation of slpA. Selection of these variant clones was rapid in vivo, and independent of toxin production, with up to 90% of the recovered C. difficile population encoding modified slpA sequence within 24 h post infection. Two variants, subsequently named FM2.5varA and FM2.5varB, were selected for study in greater detail. Structural determination of SlpA from FM2.5varB indicated an alteration in the orientation of protein domains, resulting in a reorganisation of the lattice assembly, and changes in interacting interfaces, which might alter function. Interestingly, variant FM2.5varB displayed an attenuated, FM2.5-like phenotype in vivo compared to FM2.5varA, which caused disease severity more comparable to that of R20291. Comparative RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) analysis of in vitro grown isolates revealed large changes in gene expression between R20291 and FM2.5. Downregulation of tcdA/tcdB and several genes associated with sporulation and cell wall integrity may account for the reported attenuated phenotype of FM2.5 in vivo. RNA-seq data correlated well with disease severity with the more virulent variant, FM2.5varA, showing s similar profile of gene expression to R20291 in vitro, while the attenuated FM2.5varB showed downregulation of many of the same virulence associated traits as FM2.5. Cumulatively, these data add to a growing body of evidence that the S-layer contributes to C. difficile pathogenesis and disease severity.https://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.ppat.1011015&type=printable
spellingShingle Michael J Ormsby
Filipa Vaz
Joseph A Kirk
Anna Barwinska-Sendra
Jennifer C Hallam
Paola Lanzoni-Mangutchi
John Cole
Roy R Chaudhuri
Paula S Salgado
Robert P Fagan
Gillian R Douce
An intact S-layer is advantageous to Clostridioides difficile within the host.
PLoS Pathogens
title An intact S-layer is advantageous to Clostridioides difficile within the host.
title_full An intact S-layer is advantageous to Clostridioides difficile within the host.
title_fullStr An intact S-layer is advantageous to Clostridioides difficile within the host.
title_full_unstemmed An intact S-layer is advantageous to Clostridioides difficile within the host.
title_short An intact S-layer is advantageous to Clostridioides difficile within the host.
title_sort intact s layer is advantageous to clostridioides difficile within the host
url https://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.ppat.1011015&type=printable
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