Global Proteomic Analysis Reveals the Roles of MicX in Biofilm Formation and Quorum Sensing in Vibrio alginolyticus

ABSTRACT: Vibrio alginolyticus is a foodborne pathogen commonly found in seafood and freshwa-ter products, causing human illness through the consumption of tainted seafood. Small non-coding RNAs (sRNAs) take effect on the stability and translation of their target mRNAs by base pairing, thereby quickly altering bacterial physiology and pathogenic-ity at the post-transcriptional level. This work constructed a label-free in-frame dele-tion mutant and a complement strain of micX, a cell-density-associated sRNA in V. al-ginolyticus. The ΔmicX mutant exhibited reduced growth and a reduction in the syn-thesis of exopolysaccharides, biofilm, and extracellular proteases. A TMT-based quan-titative proteomic analysis comparing ΔmicX with the wild-type strain identified 900 differentially expressed proteins, comprising 376 that were upregulated and 524 that were downregulated. The upregulated proteins are primarily associated with porin ac-tivity, transmembrane signaling receptor function, and the two-component system. The downregulated proteins are mainly engaged in processes including biofilm for-mation, cellular communication, and transmembrane transport activity. Of note, the expression levels of proteins involved in the type VI secretion system, exopolysaccha-ride synthesis, mannose-sensitive hemagglutinin type IV pili (MSHA), and biofilm formation were significantly reduced in the absence of micX. Furthermore, the expres-sion levels of proteins associated with quorum sensing (particularly LuxR and AphA) changed significantly in the ΔmicX vs. WT comparison. These findings strengthened comprehension of the novel sRNA regulatory network and established a theoretical foundation for additional investigations into the virulence of V. alginolyticus.

ORGANISM(S): Vibrio Alginolyticus Nbrc 15630 = Atcc 17749

SUBMITTER: Huan Liu  

PROVIDER: PXD073542 | iProX | Thu Feb 05 00:00:00 GMT 2026

REPOSITORIES: iProX