meta-CDI: Metabolic “dark matter” in Clostridioides difficile infections
The meta-CDI project, led by Christian Hertweck, is dedicated to previously unexplored metabolic pathways of the anaerobic intestinal pathogen Clostridioides difficile, an antibiotic-resistant major cause of hospital infections. The aim is to identify previously unknown, specialized metabolites that influence the interaction between pathogen, microbiome, and host. In an interdisciplinary approach, the teams led by Christian Hertweck from the Leibniz HKI and Franziska Faber from the University of Würzburg combine methods of bioinformatics, metabolomics, RNA sequencing, and imaging to discover new active compounds, virulence factors, and signaling compounds. These findings could enable the development of innovative therapies against recurrent C. difficile infections that are gentle on the microbiota.
