Global Rsh-dependent transcription profile of Brucella suisduring stringent response unravels adaptation to nutrient starvation and cross-talk with other stress responses

BMC Genomics

Research Article

L Garry Adams¹  Kenneth L Drake²  Safia Ouahrani-Bettache³  Stephan Köhler³  Alessandra Occhialini³  Nabil Hanna³ 

[1] Department of Veterinary Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA;Seralogix, Limited Liability Company, Austin, TX, USA;Université Montpellier 1, Centre d’études d’agents Pathogènes et Biotechnologies pour la Santé (CPBS), Montpellier, France;CNRS, UMR 5236, CPBS, Montpellier, France;Université Montpellier 2, CPBS, Montpellier, France;

关键词: Brucella;    Stringent response;    Transcriptome;    Virulence;    Methionine biosynthesis;    Low oxygen stress;    Oxidative stress;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2164-14-459

 received in 2013-03-27, accepted in 2013-06-18,  发布年份 2013

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundIn the intracellular pathogen Brucella spp., the activation of the stringent response, a global regulatory network providing rapid adaptation to growth-affecting stress conditions such as nutrient deficiency, is essential for replication in the host. A single, bi-functional enzyme Rsh catalyzes synthesis and hydrolysis of the alarmone (p)ppGpp, responsible for differential gene expression under stringent conditions.ResultscDNA microarray analysis allowed characterization of the transcriptional profiles of the B. suis 1330 wild-type and Δrsh mutant in a minimal medium, partially mimicking the nutrient-poor intramacrophagic environment. A total of 379 genes (11.6% of the genome) were differentially expressed in a rsh-dependent manner, of which 198 were up-, and 181 were down-regulated. The pleiotropic character of the response was confirmed, as the genes encoded an important number of transcriptional regulators, cell envelope proteins, stress factors, transport systems, and energy metabolism proteins. Virulence genes such as narG and sodC, respectively encoding respiratory nitrate reductase and superoxide dismutase, were under the positive control of (p)ppGpp, as well as expression of the cbb3-type cytochrome c oxidase, essential for chronic murine infection. Methionine was the only amino acid whose biosynthesis was absolutely dependent on stringent response in B. suis.ConclusionsThe study illustrated the complexity of the processes involved in adaptation to nutrient starvation, and contributed to a better understanding of the correlation between stringent response and Brucella virulence. Most interestingly, it clearly indicated (p)ppGpp-dependent cross-talk between at least three stress responses playing a central role in Brucella adaptation to the host: nutrient, oxidative, and low-oxygen stress.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
© Hanna et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2013. This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.