Cell host & Microbe, Volume 31, Issue 5 : Cover (overlay of two photos)

On the cover: The enteropathogen Clostridioides difficile is a major cause of healthcare-associated diarrhea. In this issue of Cell Host & Microbe, Bublitz et al. (734–750) investigate the antimicrobial effect of the natural product chlorotonil A on C. difficile using swine and mouse models. Chlorotonil A prevents relapsing disease, has mild effects on the microbiota composition, and inhibits vegetative outgrowth from spores. Also in this issue are two reviews from Kao and colleagues (695–711) and Ianiro and colleagues (712–733) that discuss the mechanisms of and key factors for FMT success against C. difficile infection, respectively. The cover (overlay of two photos) shows the interaction of flagellated C. difficile cells with host epithelial cells as a key step in gut colonization. Image credit: Cells were provided by Nicole Metzendorf from the Department of Microbial Physiology and Molecular Biology, Institute of Microbiology, and imaged by Rabea Schlüter, Imaging Center of the Department of Biology, University of Greifswald, Germany; acknowledgement to Stefan Bock for technical assistance. The image was designed by Marcus Pfau from the Institute of Molecular Pathogenesis at the Friedrich-Loeffler-Institute in Jena, Germany.