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Transcriptomic analysis of Clostridium thermocellum ATCC 27405 cellulose fermentation

ABSTRACT: Background: The ability of Clostridium thermocellum ATCC 27405 wild-type strain to hydrolyze cellulose and ferment the degradation products directly to ethanol and other metabolic byproducts makes it an attractive candidate for consolidated bioprocessing of cellulosic biomass to biofuels. In this study, whole-genome microarrays were used to investigate the expression of C. thermocellum mRNA during growth on crystalline cellulose in controlled replicate batch fermentations. Results: A time-series analysis of gene expression revealed changes in transcript levels of ~40% of genes (~1300 out of 3198 ORFs encoded in the genome) during transition from early-exponential to late-stationary phase. K-means clustering of genes with statistically significant changes in transcript levels identified six distinct clusters of temporal expression. Broadly, genes involved in energy production, translation, glycolysis and amino acid, nucleotide and coenzyme metabolism displayed a decreasing trend in gene expression as cells entered stationary phase. In comparison, genes involved in cell structure and motility, chemotaxis, signal transduction and transcription showed an increasing trend in gene expression. Hierarchical clustering of cellulosome-related genes highlighted temporal changes in composition of this multi-enzyme complex during batch growth on crystalline cellulose, with increased expression of several genes encoding hydrolytic enzymes involved in degradation of non-cellulosic substrates in stationary phase. Conclusions: Overall, the results suggest that under low substrate availability, growth slows due to decreased metabolic potential and C. thermocellum alters its gene expression to (i) modulate the composition of cellulosomes that are released into the environment with an increased proportion of enzymes than can efficiently degrade plant polysaccharides other than cellulose, (ii) enhance signal transduction and chemotaxis mechanisms perhaps to sense the oligo-saccharide hydrolysis products, and nutrient gradients generated through the action of cell-free cellulosomes and, (iii) increase cellular motility for potentially orienting the cells’ movement towards positive environmental signals leading to nutrient sources. Such a coordinated cellular strategy would increase its chances of survival in natural ecosystems where feast and famine conditions are frequently encountered.

ORGANISM(S): Acetivibrio thermocellus ATCC 27405

PROVIDER: GSE29554 | GEO | 2011/05/27

SECONDARY ACCESSION(S): PRJNA141321

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:Background: The ability of Clostridium thermocellum ATCC 27405 wild-type strain to hydrolyze cellulose and ferment the degradation products directly to ethanol and other metabolic byproducts makes it an attractive candidate for consolidated bioprocessing of cellulosic biomass to biofuels. In this study, whole-genome microarrays were used to investigate the expression of C. thermocellum mRNA during growth on crystalline cellulose in controlled replicate batch fermentations. Results: A time-series analysis of gene expression revealed changes in transcript levels of ~40% of genes (~1300 out of 3198 ORFs encoded in the genome) during transition from early-exponential to late-stationary phase. K-means clustering of genes with statistically significant changes in transcript levels identified six distinct clusters of temporal expression. Broadly, genes involved in energy production, translation, glycolysis and amino acid, nucleotide and coenzyme metabolism displayed a decreasing trend in gene expression as cells entered stationary phase. In comparison, genes involved in cell structure and motility, chemotaxis, signal transduction and transcription showed an increasing trend in gene expression. Hierarchical clustering of cellulosome-related genes highlighted temporal changes in composition of this multi-enzyme complex during batch growth on crystalline cellulose, with increased expression of several genes encoding hydrolytic enzymes involved in degradation of non-cellulosic substrates in stationary phase. Conclusions: Overall, the results suggest that under low substrate availability, growth slows due to decreased metabolic potential and C. thermocellum alters its gene expression to (i) modulate the composition of cellulosomes that are released into the environment with an increased proportion of enzymes than can efficiently degrade plant polysaccharides other than cellulose, (ii) enhance signal transduction and chemotaxis mechanisms perhaps to sense the oligo-saccharide hydrolysis products, and nutrient gradients generated through the action of cell-free cellulosomes and, (iii) increase cellular motility for potentially orienting the cellsM-bM-^@M-^Y movement towards positive environmental signals leading to nutrient sources. Such a coordinated cellular strategy would increase its chances of survival in natural ecosystems where feast and famine conditions are frequently encountered. Total RNA was extracted from the cell pellets and the reverse transcribed cDNA was hybridized to oligo-arrays containing duplicated probes representing ~90% of the annotated ORFs in C. thermocellum ATCC27405 genome.Dual-channel dye swap experimental design was used to analyze the time-course of gene expression during cellulose fermentation using two biological replicate fermentation. The 6hr sample as the reference, to which all other time-point samples (8, 10, 12, 14, 16hr) were compared.

Project description:The thermophilic anaerobe Clostridium thermocellum is a candidate consolidated bioprocessing (CBP) biocatalyst for cellulosic ethanol production. It expresses enzymes for both cellulose solubilization and its fermentation to produce lignocellulosic ethanol. To gain insights into the C. thermocellum genes, using an updated version of the C. thermocellum ATCC 27405 genome annotation, that are required for specific growth on the cellulosic feedstocks of either pretreated switchgrass or Populus, duplicate fermentations were conducted with a 5 g/L solid substrate loading. High quality RNA was extracted using a method we report for C. thermocellum grown on solid substrates. Transcriptome profiles were obtained at two time points during actively growing fermentations (12 h and 37 h post inoculation). A comparison of two transcriptomic analytical techniques, microarray and RNAseq, was performed and the data analyzed for statistical significance. When thresholds for genes passing significance of FDR>0.05 were applied, microarray (2351 genes) had a greater number of significant genes relative to RNA-seq (280 genes when normalized by KDMM). When a 2-fold difference in expression threshold was applied, seventy-three genes were significantly differentially expressed in common between the two techniques. We identified genes differentially expressed when C. thermocellum ATC 27405 was grown on the two biomass substrates, with two putative efflux/transport systems highly differentially regulated (>5-fold). This study has revealed consistency between these two transcriptomics analytical platforms that gives confidence in our switch from the DNA microarray platform to an RNAseq based platform for routine transcriptomics analyses. To gain insights into the C. thermocellum genes, using an updated version of the C. thermocellum ATCC 27405 genome annotation, that are required for specific growth on the cellulosic feedstocks of either pretreated switchgrass or Populus, duplicate fermentations were conducted with a 5 g/L solid substrate loading. High quality RNA was extracted using a method we report for C. thermocellum grown on solid substrates. Transcriptome profiles were obtained at two time points during actively growing fermentations (12 h and 37 h post inoculation). A comparison of two transcriptomic analytical techniques, microarray and RNAseq, was performed and the data analyzed for statistical significance.

Project description:Clostridium thermocellum is a candidate for cellulosic ethanol production. It expresses enzymes for both cellulose solubilization and its fermentation to produce lignocellulosic ethanol. Understanding how this organism regulates gene expression is of importance for developing a better fundamental understanding of this industrial relevant bacterium. We are primarily interested in gene regulation by three predicted LacI regulators. A previous report of one LacI regulator in C. thermocellum ATCC27405 (Cthe_2808) indicated this was a transcriptional repressor of neighboring genes with repressor activity relieved in the presence of laminaribiose (a Î²-1,3 disaccharide). The current work is aimed at understanding if a homolog of this LacI transcriptional regulator in C. thermocellum DSM1313 and two others putatively characterized as LacI regulators are in fact global regulatory proteins with extensive regulons or, if like the majority of LacI transcription factors, the regulation is limited to local genomic regions. Each of the three LacI regulators was deleted in C. thermocellum DSM1313. Genome re-sequencing was used to confirm the deletion and ensure nonspecific recombination events were avoided during the gene deletion strategy. Growth of each strain on cellobiose was unaffected by any of the gene deletions under pH controlled fermentations. Global gene expression patterns taken at mid-log phase for each strain identified glycoside hydrolase genes encoding hemicellulases, including cellulosomal enzymes, that were highly up-regulated (up to 9 fold) in the absence of each LacI regulator. Thus suggesting these were repressed under wild type conditions. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays have confirmed LacI transcription factor binding to specific regions of gene promoters with putative motifs ranging from 16-18 bp. Work is ongoing to confirm the specific binding motif recognized by the two previously un-characterized transcription factors and assess the occurrence of this motif in the C. thermocellum DSM1313 genome. The identification of LacI repressor activity on hemicellulose gene expression is a key result of this work and will add to the small body of existing literature on the area of gene regulation in C. thermocellum. Four strains of C. thermocellum DSM1313 including a parental strain (Îhpt) and three others with deletion in lacI transcription factors were characterised by RNA-seq. The strains were grown in 1L bioreactors, cells (from 50 ml samples) were harvested at mid exponential, late exponential and 30 min after acid production halted during the transition to stationary phase. The growth studies were performed in triplicate and thirty six samples were analyzed by RNA-sequencing.

Project description:Clostridium thermocellum is a candidate for cellulosic ethanol production. It expresses enzymes for both cellulose solubilization and its fermentation to produce lignocellulosic ethanol. Understanding how this organism regulates gene expression is of importance for developing a better fundamental understanding of this industrial relevant bacterium. We are primarily interested in gene regulation by three predicted LacI regulators. A previous report of one LacI regulator in C. thermocellum ATCC27405 (Cthe_2808) indicated this was a transcriptional repressor of neighboring genes with repressor activity relieved in the presence of laminaribiose (a β-1,3 disaccharide). The current work is aimed at understanding if a homolog of this LacI transcriptional regulator in C. thermocellum DSM1313 and two others putatively characterized as LacI regulators are in fact global regulatory proteins with extensive regulons or, if like the majority of LacI transcription factors, the regulation is limited to local genomic regions. Each of the three LacI regulators was deleted in C. thermocellum DSM1313. Genome re-sequencing was used to confirm the deletion and ensure nonspecific recombination events were avoided during the gene deletion strategy. Growth of each strain on cellobiose was unaffected by any of the gene deletions under pH controlled fermentations. Global gene expression patterns taken at mid-log phase for each strain identified glycoside hydrolase genes encoding hemicellulases, including cellulosomal enzymes, that were highly up-regulated (up to 9 fold) in the absence of each LacI regulator. Thus suggesting these were repressed under wild type conditions. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays have confirmed LacI transcription factor binding to specific regions of gene promoters with putative motifs ranging from 16-18 bp. Work is ongoing to confirm the specific binding motif recognized by the two previously un-characterized transcription factors and assess the occurrence of this motif in the C. thermocellum DSM1313 genome. The identification of LacI repressor activity on hemicellulose gene expression is a key result of this work and will add to the small body of existing literature on the area of gene regulation in C. thermocellum.

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Transcriptomic analysis of Clostridium thermocellum ATCC 27405 cellulose fermentation

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