Bile acids play an important role in life cycle. Deoxycholate (DCA), one of the most abundant secondary bile acids, is known to inhibit vegetative growth and toxin production. However, limited data are available on the role of DCA on sporulation. Here, we investigated the phenotypic and genotypic impact of DCA on the growth, toxin production, and sporulation of .Four genetically divergent strains were cultured in nutrient-rich broth with and without DCA at various concentrations, and growth activity was evaluated for each strain. Cytotoxicity assays using culture supernatants from cells grown in nutrient-rich broth with and without 0.01% DCA were conducted. Sporulation efficiency was determined using sporulation media with and without 0.01% DCA. Transcript levels of and were analyzed using quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction.We found that DCA led to growth reduction in a dose-depended manner and regulated toxin production by repressing expression during vegetative growth. To our knowledge, we have also provided the first evidence that DCA reduces sporulation efficiency through the downregulation of expression during the sporulation stage.DCA modulates sporulation, vegetative growth, and toxin production.