[SCAN Highlight] Minimizing transcriptional noise during development in a bacterial pathogen

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Title: Minimizing transcriptional noise during development in a bacterial pathogen

Speaker: Adriano Henriques

Affiliation: Adriano O. Henriques Lab - Microbial Development

Abstract:

Activation of a mother cell-specific transcription factor, sK, cell drives the final stages of spore morphogenesis in the human intestinal pathogen Clostridium difficile. Assembly of the spore surface structures, in particular, is under the control of sK. Proper assembly of the spore surface is essential for spore resistance and dissemination. The spore surface also plays a crucial role in infection as it influences binding of the ingested spores to the epithelial cells in the colon, and their productive interaction with small molecules able to trigger germination.

We show that the time at which sK becomes active is essential for the fidelity of the morphogenetic process and we describe mechanisms, including a programmed cell type-specific chromosomal rearrangement, that  enforce the timely activation of this transcription factor.

PAPER

PLoS Genet 12(9): e1006312. doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1006312

A Recombination Directionality Factor Controls the Cell Type-Specific Activation of σK and the Fidelity of Spore Development in Clostridium difficile

Mónica Serrano, Nicolas Kint, Fátima C. Pereira, Laure Saujet, Pierre Boudry, Bruno Dupuy, Adriano O. Henriques, Isabelle Martin-Verstraete

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PRESS RELEASE in portuguese