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Microbiology Society logo Microbiology

Volume 148, Issue 7

Proteins released during high toxin production in Free

Abstract

The mechanism by which toxins A and B are released by is unknown and information about the other extracellular proteins of this bacterium is limited. The authors identified exported proteins from strain VPI 10463 during conditions promoting high toxin production. Toxins A and B were released in a 1:1 ratio and the proportion of toxin in the extracellular fraction reached 50% during the stationary phase as compared to a proportion of <1% for typical cytoplasmic proteins, showing that toxin export was not due to bacterial lysis. A 47 kDa protein, released with similar kinetics to the toxins, was processed and showed weak similarity to the channel-forming protein TolC. Another protein released during high toxin production was unprocessed and showed similarity to XkdK encoded by the prophage PBSX in , a protein supposedly exported via phage-specific holins. The two most abundant extracellular proteins, found during both high and low toxin production, were processed and identified as shed S-layer proteins. As shown by N-terminal sequencing and PCR-based methods, there was a considerable sequence variation of the S-layer gene in different serogroup reference strains. To conclude, uses the classical Sec-dependent and probably also holin-like pathways to secrete a comparatively small repertoire of proteins.

  • Received:
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Keyword(s): extracellular proteins , outer membrane efflux proteins , PBSX prophage and S-layer
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2002-07-01
2025-04-30
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Proteins released during high toxin production in Clostridium difficile
Microbiology 148, 2245 (2002); https://doi.org/10.1099/00221287-148-7-2245
/content/journal/micro/10.1099/00221287-148-7-2245
/content/journal/micro/10.1099/00221287-148-7-2245
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