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DksA controls the response of the Lyme disease spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi to starvation

ABSTRACT: The pathogenic spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi senses and responds to diverse environmental challenges, including changes in nutrient availability, throughout its natural infectious cycle in Ixodes spp. ticks and mammalian hosts. This study examined the role of the putative DnaK suppressor protein (DksA) in the transcriptional response of B. burgdorferi to starvation. Wild-type and dksA-deficient B. burgdorferi strains were subjected to starvation by shifting mid-logarithmic cultures grown in BSK-II medium to serum-free RPMI medium for six hours under microaerobic conditions (5% CO2, 3% O2). Microarray analyses of wild-type B. burgdorferi revealed that genes encoding flagellar components, ribosomal proteins, and DNA replication machinery were downregulated in response to starvation. DksA mediated transcriptomic responses to starvation in B. burgdorferi as the dksA-deficient B. burgdorferi strain differentially expressed only 47 genes in response to starvation compared to the 500 genes differentially expressed by wild-type strains. Consistent with a role for DksA in the starvation response of B. burgdorferi, fewer CFUs were observed for dksA-deficient spirochetes after prolonged starvation in RPMI medium compared to wild-type B. burgdorferi. Transcriptomic analyses revealed a partial overlap between the DksA regulon and the regulon of the guanosine tetraphosphate and guanosine pentaphosphate [(p)ppGpp] synthase RelBbu, while the DksA regulon also included many plasmid-borne genes. Corresponding to a DksA-(p)ppGpp regulatory relationship, (p)ppGpp levels were constitutively elevated in the dksA-deficient strain compared to the wild-type strain. Together, these data indicate that DksA directs the stringent response with a regulatory interplay with (p)ppGpp that is fundamental to B. burgdorferi responses to the environment.

ORGANISM(S): Coxiella burnetii Chlamydia trachomatis Yersinia pestis Streptococcus pyogenes Staphylococcus aureus Borreliella burgdorferi

PROVIDER: GSE119023 | GEO | 2018/12/18

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:Transcription profiling of wild type, relA-, and relA-spoT-, crp-, dksA-, rpoS-, lrp- mutant strains of E. coli starved for isoleucine Bacteria comprehensively reorganize their global gene expression when faced with nutrient exhaustion. In Escherichia coli and other free-living bacteria, the alarmone ppGpp facilitates this massive response by directly or indirectly coordinating the down-regulation of genes of the translation apparatus, and the induction of biosynthetic genes and the general stress response. Such a large reorientation likely requires the cooperative activities of many different genetic regulators, yet the structure of the transcription network below the level of ppGpp remains poorly defined. Using isoleucine starvation as an experimental model system for amino acid starvation, we identified genes that required ppGpp, Lrp, and RpoS for their induction. Surprisingly, despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of genes controlled by Lrp and RpoS required ppGpp for their activation, we found that these two regulons were not induced simultaneously. The data reported here suggest that metabolic genes, such as those of the Lrp regulon, require only a low basal level of ppGpp for their efficient induction. In contrast, the RpoS-dependent general stress response is not robustly induced until relatively high levels of ppGpp accumulate. Here we describe a data-driven conceptual model that explains how bacterial cells allocate transcriptional resources between metabolic and stress survival processes by discretely tuning regulatory activities to a central indicator of cellular physiology. The regulatory structure that emerges is consistent with a rheostatic model of the stringent response that allows cells to efficiently adapt to a wide range of nutritional environments. Keywords: genetic modification design; stress response; isoleucine starvation Two experiments were run. First experiment: WT and several mutant strains were starved for isoleucine (exhaustion of 60 uM ile). 40 minutes after starvation, RNA was extracted. All samples were compared to RNA from rapidly growing WT cells in identical medium replete with isoleucine (400 uM). 16 samples were hybridized: duplicates of 8 strains/conditions. Wildtype in log phase (OD = 0.4) with replete ile was control for ile starved samples. Second experiment: WT strain was starved for isoleucine (exhaustion of 60 uM ile). RNA was extracted at 12 timepoints as the cells entered stationary phase. All samples were compared to RNA from rapidly growing WT cells in identical medium replete with isoleucine (400 uM). 14 samples were hybridized: duplicates of the control condition and single timepoints during starvation. Wildtype in log phase (OD = 0.4) with replete ile was control for ile starved samples.

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DksA controls the response of the Lyme disease spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi to starvation

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