An antibiotic resistance gene helps a dangerous gut bacterium build tougher spores that can survive hospital disinfectants.
A hospital surface can be disinfected and still harbor dormant spores of Clostridioides difficile, a bacterium that causes diarrhea that can be deadly for already sick patients. Researchers have now found that an antibiotic resistance gene can help the bacterium produce tougher spores, allowing them to survive hospital-grade cleaning products and high laundry temperatures.
Monash University researchers traced this added resilience to a change in how the bacterium builds its spores. Their study, published in Nature Communications, reveals how acquiring a gene that protects against an antibiotic can also strengthen the form the bacterium uses to spread.
A protein swap builds tougher spores
C. difficile spores behave much like plant seeds, waiting for suitable conditions to become active again. The human gut provides one such opportunity, making survival outside the body a crucial part of the bacterium’s journey between patients.
“Spore survival matters because spores are the main way these pathogens spread between people and through hospitals, homes, and the environment,” said first author Dr. Yogitha Srikhanta, a postdoctoral research fellow at Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute.
Antibiotic resistance is supercharging dangerous gut bacteria to withstand even hospital-grade disinfectants intended to kill them. Credit: Desirel Ng/Monash University
The resistance gene produces a protein that takes the place of a key protein used to build spores. With that replacement in place, the bacterium can continue making spores despite an antibiotic that would otherwise block the process. The resulting spores are also tougher, extending the gene’s effects beyond resistance to the drug itself.
“Antibiotics are helping bacteria evolve in ways we hadn’t anticipated,” said lead researcher Professor Dena Lyras, director of Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute and interim dean of Monash’s Sub-Faculty of Biomedical and Psychological Sciences.
Spore survival could help resistance spread
Bacteria that stop responding to antibiotics can leave infections difficult or impossible to treat. The World Health Organization identifies antimicrobial resistance as a major global health threat and estimates that it contributes to millions of deaths each year. The Monash team describes its study as the first to uncover a link between antibiotic resistance and bacterial spores, connecting treatment resistance with the ability to survive outside a patient.
Srikhanta cautioned, “A resistance gene that changes how spores are built could make infections harder to control and help resistant strains spread more easily.
“We are now investigating ways to deal with this new type of antibiotic resistance.”
Targeting the spores could offer a way to interrupt that spread, although the researchers have yet to establish a solution. Lyras said, “Our new research shows just how sophisticated their evolution is, with the potential to have disastrous impacts on humans.
“They are not only better at building tolerance to drugs we develop, but making new versions of themselves that can survive better in particular environments, like surfaces where cleaning products are commonly applied.”
Reference: “Uncovering an alternate pathway of antibiotic resistance in spore-forming bacteria” by Yogitha N. Srikhanta, Clara E. Bate, Desirel Ng, Sarah A. Revitt-Mills, Georgia-Rose Gilmore, Galain C. Williams, Sophie L. Day, Stéphane Mesnage, Kamila Kochan, Shailab Shrestha, Aimee Shen, Daniel R. Knight, Korakrit Imwattana, Thomas V. Riley, Irene Alevizos, Kimberley Bourke, Milena M. Awad, Caroline A. Evans, Ghizal Siddiqui, Joel R. Steele, David L. Steer, Joshua P. Morrow, Darren J. Creek, Chaille Webb, Sheena McGowan and Dena Lyras, 15 July 2026, Nature Communications.
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-026-75594-5
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