Rifamycin Resistance in Clostridium difficile Is Generally Associated with a Low Fitness Burden

We characterized clinically occurring and novel mutations in the β subunit of RNA polymerase in Clostridium difficile (CdRpoB), conferring rifamycin (including rifaximin) resistance. The Arg505Lys substitution did not impose an in vitro fitness cost, which may be one reason for its dominance among rifamycin-resistant clinical isolates. These observations were supported through the structural modeling of CdRpoB. In general, most mutations lacked in vitro fitness costs, suggesting that rifamycin resistance may in some cases persist in the clinic.