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Updated: Jul 11, 2025
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Culturing and Maintaining Clostridium difficile in an Anaerobic Environment
Published on: September 14, 2013
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Clostridioides difficile ferrosome organelles combat nutritional immunity
Hualiang Pi1,2,3, Rong Sun4,5,6,7, James R McBride8
1Vanderbilt Institute for Infection, Immunology, and Inflammation, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA.
Nature
|November 15, 2023
Summary
Clostridioides difficile stores iron in novel ferrosome organelles, crucial for its survival in the inflamed gut. This discovery reveals a new mechanism for bacterial iron homeostasis and pathogenesis.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Biochemistry
- Pathogenesis
Background:
- Iron is essential for life but toxic at high concentrations.
- Bacterial pathogens possess sophisticated iron management strategies.
- Ferrosome granules were previously observed only in Gram-negative bacteria.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate iron storage mechanisms in the Gram-positive bacterium Clostridioides difficile.
- To determine the role of ferrosomes in C. difficile iron homeostasis and infection.
Main Methods:
- Cryo-electron tomography to visualize ferrosome localization.
- Genetic analysis to identify proteins involved in ferrosome formation (FezA, FezB).
- Mouse models of C. difficile infection to assess ferrosome function in vivo.
Main Results:
- C. difficile forms intracellular, membrane-bound ferrosome organelles containing iron phosphate biominerals.
- FezA and FezB proteins are essential for ferrosome biogenesis and iron homeostasis.
- The ferrosome system is activated during C. difficile infection in the gut to overcome iron sequestration.
Conclusions:
- Clostridioides difficile utilizes a unique intracellular iron biomineralization process via ferrosomes.
- Ferrosomes are critical for C. difficile colonization and survival in host-associated infections.
- This finding expands the known bacterial repertoire for iron storage and management.
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