The chaperone ClpC participates in sporulation, motility, biofilm, and toxin production of Clostridioides difficile

Objectives: Clostridioides difficile is a nosocomial pathogen that is associated with the use of antibiotics. One of the most worrying aspects of C. difficile infection is its ability to resist antimicrobial therapies, owing to spore formation. In several bacterial pathogens, proteases of the Clp family participate in phenotypes associated with persistence and virulence. This suggests that these proteins could be involved in virulence-related traits. In this study, we analysed the role of ClpC chaperone-protease of C. difficile in virulence-related traits by comparing the phenotypes of wild-type and mutant strains lacking the clpC gene (ΔclpC). Methods: We performed biofilm, motility, spore formation, and cytotoxicity assays. Results: Our results show significant differences between the wild-type and ΔclpC strains in all analysed parameters. Conclusions: Based on these findings, we conclude that clpC plays a role in the virulence properties of C. difficile.