Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 27, 2025

Cefoperazone-treated Mouse Model of Clinically-relevant Clostridium difficile Strain R20291
Published on: December 10, 2016
Regulatory transcription factors of Clostridioides difficile pathogenesis with a focus on toxin regulation
Harish Chandra1,2, Joseph A Sorg3, Daniel J Hassett2
1Department of Environmental Microbiology, School of Environmental and Earth Sciences, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow, India.
Abstract:
Clostridioides difficile (CD), a nosocomial gut pathogen, produces two major exotoxins, TcdA and TcdB, which disrupt the gut epithelial barrier and induce inflammatory/immune responses, leading to symptoms ranging from mild diarrhoea to pseudomembranous colitis and potentially to death. The expression of toxins is regulated by various transcription factors (TFs) which are induced in response to CD physiological life stages, nutritional availability, and host environment. This review summarises our current understanding on the regulation of toxin expression by TFs that interconnect with pathways of flagellar synthesis, quorum sensing, motility, biofilm formation, sporulation, and phase variation. The pleiotropic roles of some key TFs suggest that toxin production is tightly linked to other cellular processes of the CD physiology.
Related Concept Videos
Gene Regulation in Microbial Communities: Quorum Sensing
Gene Regulation During Sporulation
Stringent Response in E. coli
Master Transcription Regulators
Prokaryotic Transcriptional Activators and Repressors
Transcription of prokaryotic...
Transcription Attenuation in Prokaryotes
There are several different mechanisms used to attenuate transcription. In ribosome mediated...

