Extracellular succinate induces spatially organized biofilm formation in Clostridioides difficile

we report that succinate, a metabolite abundantly produced by the dysbiotic gut microbiota, induces in vitro biofilm formation of C. difficile strains. We characterized the morphology and spatial composition of succinate- induced biofilms, and compared to non-induced or deoxycholate-induced biofilms, biofilms induced by succinate are significantly thicker, structurally more complex, and poorer in proteins and exopolysaccharides (EPS). Overall design: Total RNA was extracted from 4 independent biological replicates of 630 C. difficile strains at 4 conditions with 240µM Deoxycholate for the 1687 mutant and the wild type strains and with plasmid empty or that contains the 1687 gene.