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A sporulation factor is involved in the morphological change of Clostridium perfringens biofilms in response to temperature.

ABSTRACT: Biofilm formation has been associated with bacterial pathogenesis, such as nosocomial and chronic infections, as the resistance of biofilms to environmental stresses has increased. Clostridium perfringens is a Gram-positive spore-forming anaerobic pathogen. This organism survives antibiotic treatment through the formation of biofilms or spores, but the environmental and regulatory factors involved in the biofilm formation remain unclear. Here, we observed that temperature regulates C. perfringens biofilm morphology. At 37°C, C. perfringens adhered to the substrate surface and formed a flat, thin biofilm, herein referred to as adhered biofilm. However, at 25°C, this bacterium did not adhere and produced a threadlike extracellular matrix, forming a viscous, thick biofilm, herein referred to as pellicle biofilm. Pellicle biofilm formation requires the sporulation master regulator, Spo0A, and the toxin regulator, CtrAB, and is enhanced in the absence of the global repressor, AbrB. These transcriptional regulator genes are regulated by each other and temperature. Adhered-biofilm formation requires AbrB and pilA2, which encodes a component of type IV pili (TFP). TFP expression was activated at 37°C and regulated through Spo0A, AbrB, and CtrAB. These results indicate that the morphology of C. perfringens biofilm is dependent on temperature through the differential production of extracellular matrix and the activity of TFP. Moreover, pellicle biofilm formation is involved in sporulation and toxin production. Here, we demonstrated that clostridial biofilm formation is closely associated with sporulation and that the morphological change of the biofilms could play an important role in the pathogenesis of this organism.

SUBMITTER: Obana N

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3993371 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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A sporulation factor is involved in the morphological change of Clostridium perfringens biofilms in response to temperature.

Obana Nozomu N Nakamura Kouji K Nomura Nobuhiko N

Journal of bacteriology 20140207 8

Biofilm formation has been associated with bacterial pathogenesis, such as nosocomial and chronic infections, as the resistance of biofilms to environmental stresses has increased. Clostridium perfringens is a Gram-positive spore-forming anaerobic pathogen. This organism survives antibiotic treatment through the formation of biofilms or spores, but the environmental and regulatory factors involved in the biofilm formation remain unclear. Here, we observed that temperature regulates C. perfringen ...[more]

PMID: 24509316

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Project description:UnlabelledClostridium perfringens type A is a common source of foodborne illness (FBI) in humans. Vegetative cells sporulate in the small intestinal tract and produce the major pathogenic factor C. perfringens enterotoxin. Although sporulation plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of FBI, the mechanisms inducing sporulation remain unclear. Bile salts were shown previously to induce sporulation, and we confirmed deoxycholate (DCA)-induced sporulation in C. perfringens strain NCTC8239 cocultured with human intestinal epithelial Caco-2 cells. In the present study, we performed transcriptome analyses of strain NCTC8239 in order to elucidate the mechanism underlying DCA-induced sporulation. Of the 2,761 genes analyzed, 333 were up- or downregulated during DCA-induced sporulation and included genes for cell division, nutrient metabolism, signal transduction, and defense mechanisms. In contrast, the virulence-associated transcriptional regulators (the VirR/VirS system, the agr system, codY, and abrB) were not activated by DCA. DCA markedly increased the expression of signaling molecules controlled by Spo0A, the master regulator of the sporulation process, whereas the expression of spo0A itself was not altered in the presence or absence of DCA. The phosphorylation of Spo0A was enhanced in the presence of DCA. Collectively, these results demonstrated that DCA induced sporulation, at least partially, by facilitating the phosphorylation of Spo0A and activating Spo0A-regulated genes in strain NCTC8239 while altering the expression of various genes.ImportanceDisease caused by Clostridium perfringens type A consistently ranks among the most common bacterial foodborne illnesses in humans in developed countries. The sporulation of C. perfringens in the small intestinal tract is a key event for its pathogenesis, but the factors and underlying mechanisms by which C. perfringens sporulates in vivo currently remain unclear. Bile salts, major components of bile, which is secreted from the liver for the emulsification of lipids, were shown to induce sporulation. However, the mechanisms underlying bile salt-induced sporulation have not yet been clarified. In the present study, we demonstrate that deoxycholate (one of the bile salts) induces sporulation by facilitating the phosphorylation of Spo0A and activating Spo0A-regulated genes using a transcriptome analysis. Thus, this study enhances our understanding of the mechanisms underlying sporulation, particularly that of bile salt-induced sporulation, in C. perfringens.

Dataset Information

A sporulation factor is involved in the morphological change of Clostridium perfringens biofilms in response to temperature.

Publications

A sporulation factor is involved in the morphological change of Clostridium perfringens biofilms in response to temperature.

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