Clostridioides difficile MreE (PBP2) variants facilitate clinical disease during cephalosporin exposures

Cephalosporins are the most common triggers of healthcare-associated Clostridioides difficile infections (CDI). Here, we confirm gene-level drivers of cephalosporin resistance and their roles in promoting disease. Genomic-epidemiologic analyses of 306 C. difficile isolates from a hospital surveillance program monitoring asymptomatic carriers and CDI patients identified prevalent third-generation cephalosporin resistance to ceftriaxone at >256 ug/mL in 26% of isolates. Resistance was associated with patient cephalosporin exposures 8–10 days before C. difficile detection. Genomic analyses identified variants in the mreE penicillin binding protein 2 (PBP2) associated with resistance to multiple beta-lactam classes. Transfer of variants into susceptible strain CD630 elevated resistance to first and third-generation cephalosporins. Transfer into the mouse-infective strain ATCC 43255 enabled disease when mice were exposed to 500ug/mL cefoperazone, a dose that inhibited the isogenic susceptible strain. Our findings establish roles of cephalosporins and mreE-cephalosporin-resistant variants in CDI and provide testable genetic loci for detecting resistance in patient strains.