Wiep Klaas Smits

Identification of novel cellular intermediates unveils unique enzymes for flagellar glycan biosynthesis in Clostridioides difficile

This study identifies two novel biosynthetic intermediates and characterizes their enzymes in the unique glycan modification pathway of C. difficile flagellin.

Characterization of the clade 4 non-toxigenic C. difficile isolate L-NTCD03 carrying the cfr(B) gene

The paper characterizes a non-toxigenic C. difficile strain, L-NTCD03, showing antimicrobial resistance and non-toxicity, suggesting its potential as a live biotherapeutic.

Manufacture of Clostridioides difficile spores for experimental infection of human volunteers

This paper describes a GMP-compliant process for producing C. difficile spores for use in controlled human infection models.

Metagenomic global survey and in-depth genomic analyses of Ruminococcus gnavus reveal differences across host lifestyle and health status

The paper surveys Ruminococcus gnavus distribution across host lifestyles and health, revealing higher prevalence in Westernized populations and genomic differences between healthy and Crohn's disease isolates.

Antimicrobial susceptibility testing of Clostridioides difficile: a dual-site study of three different media and three therapeutic antimicrobials

This study compares antimicrobial susceptibility testing of C. difficile across three media and three drugs, finding medium-dependent MIC differences and recommending FAA-HB for consistency.

Elucidation of the glycan structure of the b-type flagellin of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1

This study identifies the unknown moiety in the b-type flagellin glycan of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 as N,N-dimethylthreonine using mass spectrometry and compares it to Type A glycan in C. difficile.

Proteolytic activity of surface exposed HtrA determines its expression level and is needed to survive acidic conditions in Clostridioides difficile

This study shows that HtrA proteolytic activity affects its expression level and is necessary for C. difficile survival under acidic conditions.

Performance of Core Genome Multilocus Sequence Typing Compared to Capillary-Electrophoresis PCR Ribotyping and SNP Analysis of Clostridioides difficile

The paper compares core genome MLST (cgMLST) with CE-PCR ribotyping and SNP analysis for C. difficile typing, finding cgMLST offers better discrimination but may require adjusted thresholds for outbreak detection.