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The SOS response master regulator LexA is associated with sporulation, motility and biofilm formation in Clostridium difficileBeata Maria Walter,
Stephen Cartman,
Nigel Peter Minton,
Matej Butala,
Maja Rupnik, 2015, original scientific article
Abstract: The LexA regulated SOS network is a bacterial response to DNA damage of metabolic or environmental origin. In Clostridium difficile, a nosocomial pathogen causing a range of intestinal diseases, the in-silico deduced LexA network included the core SOS genes involved in the DNA repair and genes involved in various other biological functions that vary among different ribotypes. Here we describe the construction and characterization of a lexA ClosTron mutant in C. difficile R20291 strain. The mutation of lexA caused inhibition of cell division resulting in a filamentous phenotype. The lexA mutant also showed decreased sporulation, a reduction in swimming motility, greater sensitivity to metronidazole, and increased biofilm formation. Changes in the regulation of toxin A, but not toxin B, were observed in the lexA mutant in the presence of sub-inhibitory concentrations of levofloxacin. C. difficile LexA is, therefore, not only a regulator of DNA damage but also controls many biological functions associated with virulence.
Keywords: toxins, bacterial sporulation, DNA damage, antibiotics
Published in DKUM: 19.06.2017; Views: 1306; Downloads: 389
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