Publications

Peer reviewed papers:

1. Wilson, J.S., Fortier, L.C., Fagan, R.P., Bullough, P.A. (2025) Molecular mechanism of bacteriophage tail contraction structure of an S-layer-penetrating bacteriophage.  Life Science Alliance 8:e202403088

2. Buddle, J.E., Thompson, L.M., Williams, A.S., Wright, R.C.T., Durham, W.M., Turner, C.E., Chaudhuri, R.R., Brockhurst, M.A., Fagan, R.P. (2024) Identification of pathways to high-level vancomycin resistance in Clostridioides difficile that incur high fitness costs in key pathogenicity traits. PLOS Biology 22(8):e3002741

3. Galley, N.F,, Greetham, D., Alamán-Zárate, M.G., Williamson, M.P., Evans, C.A., Spittal, W.D. Buddle, J.E., Jane Freeman, J., Davis, G.L., Dickman, M.J., Wilcox, M.H., Lovering, A.L., Fagan, R.P., Mesnage, S. (2024) Clostridioides difficile canonical L,D-transpeptidases catalyse a novel type of peptidoglycan cross-links and are not required for beta-lactam resistance . Journal of Biological Chemistry 300:105529

4. Ormsby, M.J., Vaz, F., Kirk, J.A., Barwinska-Sendra, A., Hallam, J.C., Lanzoni-Mangutchi, P., Cole, J., Chaudhuri, R.R., Salgado, P.S., Fagan, R.P., Douce, G.R. (2023) An intact S-layer is advantageous to Clostridioides difficile within the host. PLoS Pathogens 19:e1011015

5. Buddle, J.E., Fagan, R.P. (2023) Pathogenicity and virulence of Clostridioides difficile. Virulence 14:2150452

6. Royer, A.L.M., Umansky, A.A., Allen, M.M., Garneau, J.R., Ospina-Bedoya, M.,  Kirk, J.A., Govoni, G., Fagan, R.P., Soutourina, O., Fortier, L.C. (2023) Clostridioides difficile S-Layer protein A (SlpA) serves as a general phage receptor. Microbiology Spectrum 11:e0389422

7. Phothichaisri, W., Chankhamhaengdecha, S., Janvilisri, T., Nuadthaisong, J., Phetruen, T., Fagan, R.P., Chanarat, S. (2022) Potential role of the host-derived cell-wall binding domain of endolysin CD16/50L as a molecular anchor in preservation of uninfected Clostridioides difficile for new rounds of phage infection. Microbiology Spectrum 10:e02361-21

8. Lanzoni-Mangutchi, P., Banerji, O., Wilson, J., Barwinska-Sendra, A., Kirk J.A., Vaz, F., O’Beirne, S., Basle, A., El Omari, K., Wagner, A., Fairweather, N.F., Douce, G.R., Bullough, P.A.*, Fagan, R.P.*, Salgado, P.S.* (2022) Structure and assembly of the S-layer in C. difficile. Nature Communications 13:970

9. Fuchs, M., Lamm-Schmidt, V., Sulzer, J., Ponath, F., Jenniches, L., Kirk, J.A., Fagan, R.P., Barquist, L., Vogel, J., Faber, F. (2021) An RNA-centric global view of Clostridioides difficile reveals broad activity of Hfq in a clinically important gram-positive bacterium. PNAS 118:e2103579118

10. Alabdali, Y.A.J., Oatley, P., Kirk, J.A., Fagan, R.P. (2021) A cortex-specific penicillin-binding protein contributes to heat resistance in Clostridioides difficile spores. Anaerobe 70:102379

11. Oatley, P., Kirk, J.A. Ma, S., Jones, S., Fagan, R.P. (2020) Spatial organization of Clostridium difficile S-layer biogenesis. Scientific Reports 10:14089

12. Janganan, T.K., Mullin, N., Dafis-Sagarmendi, A., Brunt, J., Tsokov, S.B., Stringer, S., Moir, A., Chaudhuri, R.R., Fagan, R.P., Hobbs, J.K., Bullough, P.A. (2020) Architecture and self-assembly of Clostridium sporogenes and Clostridium botulinum spore surfaces illustrate a general protective strategy across spore formers. mSphere 5:e00424-20

13. McHale, T.M., Garciarena, C.D., Fagan, R.P., Smith, S.G.J., Fitzpatrick, F., Kerrigan, S.W. (2018) Inhibition of vascular endothelial cell leak following Escherichia coli attachment in an experimental model of sepsis. Critical Care Medicine 46:805-810

14. Kirk, J.A., Gebhart, G., Buckley, A.M., Lok, S., Scholl, D., Douce, G.R., Govoni, G.R., Fagan, R.P. (2017) New class of precision antimicrobials redefines role of Clostridium difficile S-layer in virulence and viability. Science Translational Medicine 9:eaah6813

15. Kirk, J.A., Banerji, O., Fagan, R.P. (2017) Characteristics of the Clostridium difficile cell envelope and its importance in therapeutics. Microbial Biotechnology 10:76-90

16. Kirk, J.A., Fagan R.P. (2016) Heat shock increases conjugation efficiency in Clostridium difficile. Anaerobe 42:1-5

17. Janganan, T.K., Mullin, N., Tzokov, S.B., Stringer, S., Fagan, R.P., Hobbs, J.K., Moir, A., Bullough, P.A. (2016) Characterization of the spore surface and exosporium proteins of Clostridium sporogenes; implications for Clostridium botulinum group I strains. Food Microbiology 59:205-212

18. Buckley, A.M., Jukes, C., Candlish, D., Irvine, J.J., Spencer, J., Fagan, R.P., Roe, A.J., Christie, J.M., Fairweather, N.F., Douce, G.R. (2016) Lighting up Clostridium difficile: Reporting gene expression using fluorescent Lov domains. Scientific Reports 6:23463.

19. Dembek, M., Barquist, L., Boinett, C.J., Cain, A.K., Mayho, M., Lawley, T.D., Fairweather, N.F., Fagan, R.P. (2015) High-throughput analysis of gene essentiality and sporulation in Clostridium difficile. MBio 6:e02383-14

20. Willing, S.E., Candela, T., Shaw, H.A., Seager, Z., Mesnage, S., Fagan, R.P., Fairweather, N.F. (2015) Clostridium difficile surface proteins are anchored to the cells wall using CWB2 motifs that recognize the anionic polymer PSII. Molecular Microbiology 96:596-608.

21. Fagan, R.P., Fairweather, N.F. (2014) Biogenesis and functions of bacterial S-layers. Nature Reviews Microbiology 12:211-222

22. Pettit, L.J., Browne, H.P., Yu, L., Smits, W.K., Fagan, R.P., Barquist, L., Martin, M.J., Goulding, D., Duncan, S.H., Flint, H.J., Dougan, G., Choudhary, J.S., Lawley, T.D. (2014) Functional genomics reveals that Clostridium difficile Spo0A coordinates sporulation, virulence and metabolism. BMC Genomics 15:160

Preprints 

1. Buddle, J.E., Wright, R.C.T, Turner, C.E., Chaudhuri, R.R., Brockhurst, M.A.*, Fagan R.P.*  (2023) Multiple evolutionary pathways lead to vancomycin resistance in Clostridioides difficile. BioRxiv doi: 10.1101/2023.09.15.557922  - now published in PloS Biology (see above)

2. Wilson, J.S., Fortier, L.C., Fagan, R.P.*, Bullough, P.A.* (2023) Molecular mechanism of bacteriophage tail contraction-structure of an S-layer-penetrating bacteriophage. BioRxiv doi: 10.1101/2023.08.04.551987

3. Ormsby, M.J., Vaz, F., Kirk, J.A., Barwinska-Sendra, A., Hallam, J.C., Lanzoni-Mangutchi, P., Cole, J., Chaudhuri, R.R., Salgado, P.S., Fagan, R.P., Douce, G.R. (2023) An intact S-layer is advantageous to Clostridioides difficile within the host. BioRxiv doi: 10.1101/2022.11.22.517470 - now published in PloS Pathogens (see above)

4. Royer, A.L.M., Umansky, A.A., Allen, M.M., Garneau, J.R., Ospina-Bedoya, M., Kirk, J.A., Govoni, G., Fagan, R.P., Soutourina, O., Fortier, L.C. (2022) The Clostridioides difficile S-Layer protein A (SlpA) serves as a general phage receptor. BioRxiv doi: 10.1101/2022.09.19.508581 - now published in Microbiology Spectrum (see above) 

5. Banerji, O., Lanzoni-Mangutchi, P., Vaz, F., Barwinska-Sendra, A., Wilson, J., Kirk J.A., O’Beirne, S., Basle, A., El Omari, K., Wagner, A., Fairweather, N.F., Douce, G.R., Bullough, P.A., Fagan, R.P., Salgado, P.S. (2020) Structure and assembly of the S-layer determine virulence in C. difficile. Nature In Review (Research Square) doi: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-79088/v1 (Joint Coresponding) – now published in Nature Communications (see above)

6. Janganan, T.K., Mullin, N., Dafis-Sagarmendi, A., Brunt, J., Tsokov, S.B., Stringer, S., Moir, A., Chaudhuri, R.R., Fagan, R.P., Hobbs, J.K., Bullough, P.A. (2020) Architecture and self-assembly of Clostridium sporogenes and Clostridium botulinum spore surfaces illustrate a general protective strategy across spore formers. BioRxiv doi: 10.1101/2020.01.14.906404 – now published in mSphere (see above)

7. Alabdali, Y.A.J., Oatley, P., Kirk, J.A., Fagan, R.P. (2019) A cortex-specific PBP contributes to cephalosporin resistance in Clostridium difficile. BioRxiv doi:10/1101/715458 – now published in Anaerobe (see above)

8. Oatley, P, Kirk, J.A., Ma, S., Jones, S., Fagan, R.P. (2018) Spatial organization of Clostridium difficile S-layer biogenesis. BioRxiv doi: 10.1101/405993 – now published in Scientific Reports (see above)