Clostridium difficile transcriptome of strain R20291 in response to cysteine by using a time-resolved RNA-seqencing

The incidence of Clostridium difficile infection has been steadily rising over the past decade. Its increased rate is associated with the specific NAP1/BI/027 strains which are “hypervirulent” and have led to several large outbreaks since their emergence. However, the relation between their outbreaks and virulence regulation mechanisms remains unclear. It has been reported that the major virulence factor TcdA and TcdB in C. difficile could be repressed by cysteine. Here, we investigated functional and virulence-associated regulation of C. difficile R20291 in response to cysteine stress by using a time-resolved genome-wide transcriptional analysis. Dramatic changes of gene expression in C. difficile were revealed in functional categories related to transport, metabolism, and regulators under cysteine stress during different phases of growth. mRNA profiles of Clostridium difficile R20291 Cells treated or untreated with cysteine for 4h,8h and 12h were generated by RNA-sequencing