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Appendix 7.1

PDF file containing a list of first pass homologues in Clostridia species of established spore coat and exosporium proteins from literature. The listed data includes the protein name, bacterial species, and accession number of that protein in that species. Homology was assessed using BLASTp search protocol:

Spore coat and exosporium proteins from Bacillus anthracis (B. anthracis), B. subtilis and B. cereus—as well as those established previously in C. difficile, C. perfringens, and Clostridium sporogenes (C. sporogenes)—were utilized as seeds for the protein homology search. Proteins were identified through a literature review and the UniProt database. Only proteins whose localization has been previously determined to be in or external to the outer membrane were taken as “coat proteins.” In total, 154 control proteins were assessed with BLASTp.

Furthermore—while the genera classification for some species differs between sources—those species presented as “Clostridium” or “Clostridioides” in the NCBI Taxonomy database were utilized. The research done here focuses on all strains of these 107 species. Homology was initially determined in the Clostridia species C. difficile, Clostridium butyricum (C. butyricum), Clostridium cadaveris (C. cadaveris), Clostridium chauvoei (C. chauvoei), Clostridium isatidis (C. isatidis), C. perfringens, Clostridium septicum (C. septicum), and C. sporogenes given the spread of these species across the diverse Clostridia phylogenetic tree. The proteomes of the remaining Clostridium and Clostridioides species were then analysed for homologues.

Proteins were initially considered putative homologues based on established protocols of Gibbons, et al.. The threshold for reciprocal homology searches was set at an e-value of 1E(−10), and only the top result was taken for each species.

Refer to Appendices 7.2, 7.3, and 7.4 for verified homologues.