Dr. Sorg and his research lab at Texas A&M University seek to understand the physiology and virulence of C. difficile, a pathogen that causes infections in people who have undergone antibiotic regimens. The Sorg lab focuses on the mechanisms of spore germination, spore resistance properties, and overall physiology of C. difficile. The lab’s findings have found that C. difficile spores germinate through a novel germination pathway, that small spore proteins can regulate the sporulation process, and that C. difficile must metabolically compete with certain members of the colonic microbiota to establish colonization & infection.