SpoIVA-SipL Complex Formation Is Essential for Spore Assembly.

Spores are the major infectious particle of the Gram-positive nosocomial pathogen (formerly ), but the molecular details of how this organism forms these metabolically dormant cells remain poorly characterized. The composition of the spore coat in differs markedly from that defined in the well-studied organism , with only 25% of the ∼70 spore coat proteins being conserved between the two organisms and with only 2 of 9 coat assembly (morphogenetic) proteins defined in having homologs in We previously identified SipL as a clostridium-specific coat protein essential for functional spore formation. Heterologous expression analyses in revealed that SipL directly interacts with SpoIVA, a coat-morphogenetic protein conserved in all spore-forming organisms, through SipL's C-terminal LysM domain.

The Conserved Spore Coat Protein SpoVM Is Largely Dispensable in Spore Formation.

The spore-forming bacterial pathogen is a leading cause of health care-associated infections in the United States. In order for this obligate anaerobe to transmit infection, it must form metabolically dormant spores prior to exiting the host. A key step during this process is the assembly of a protective, multilayered proteinaceous coat around the spore.