Using the power of cryo-EM to elucidate the molecular mechanism of Cannibalism in Clostridium difficile

产孢细菌有一种不寻常的特征，被称为“同类相食”：它们分泌一种毒素，杀死非产孢细胞，让产孢细胞清除它们的营养物质。然而，这种毒素如何杀死细菌的分子细节，以及孢子细胞如何免疫它的分子细节，还不清楚。该项目的目的是使用冷冻电镜技术，这是一项革命性的技术，它已经彻底改变了我们在分子水平上理解生物过程的能力，结合其他生物物理和体内检测，来破解人类病原体艰难梭菌同类相食的细节。这可能对获得新的抗菌疗法具有重大意义。

Sporulating bacteria possess an unusual trait, termed "Cannibalism": they secrete a toxin,which kills non-sporulating cells, allowing the sporulating cells to scavenge their nutrients.However, the molecular details of how this toxin kills bacteria, and how sporulating cells areimmune to it, is not understood. The aim of this project is to use cryo-EM, a transformativetechnology that has revolutionized our capacity to understand biological processes at themolecular level, combined with other biophysical and in-vivo assays, to decipher the detailsof Cannibalism in the human pathogen C. difficile. This could have major implications forobtaining new antimicrobial therapeutics.