Project description:Brucella spp. is an intracellular pathogen in vivo. The intracellular B. melitensis transcriptome was determined by initially enriched and then amplified B. melitensis RNA from total RNA of B. melitensis-infected HeLa cells. Analysis of microarray results identified 161 and 115 genes differentially expressed at 4 and 12 h p.i., respectively. Most of the genes (78%) differentially expressed were down-regulated at the earliest time point, but up-regulated (75%) at 12 h p.i. The analysis of the results indicates that Brucella undergo an adaptation period during the first 4 h p.i. that is overcome by 12 h p.i., permitting Brucella to replicate intracellularly. Specific genes and biological processes identified in this study will further help elucidate how Brucella act during the early infectious process to their eventual benefit and to the detriment of the naM-CM-/ve host. Keywords: Time course study of intracellular B. melitensis gene expression Gene expression of the intracellular Brucella melitensis was determined at 4 and 12 h p.i. We generated the following samples: A) B. melitensis total RNA enriched and amplified from total RNA of B. melitensis-infected HeLa cells at 4 h p.i.; B) Total RNA isolated from B. melitensis-infected HeLa cells at 4 h p.i.; C) B. melitensis total RNA enriched and amplified from total RNA of B. melitensis-infected HeLa cells at 12 h p.i.; D) Total RNA isolated from B. melitensis-infected HeLa cells at 12 h p.i. B. melitensis total RNA was initially enriched and then amplified from total RNA of B. melitensis-infected HeLa cells at 4 and 12 h p.i. in quadruplicate, indirectly labeled and co-hybridized against B. melitensis gDNA to a custom 3.2K B. melitensis oligo-array (n = 8). As there was a possibility that some HeLa transcripts cross-hybridize with probes on B. melitensis microarrays, the original total RNA from B. melitensis-infected HeLa cells were also co-hybridized against B. melitensis gDNA to B. melitensis oligo-arrays (n = 8), and any oligospots with signals were considered non-specific and eliminated from all analysis to avoid false positive gene detection. The intracellular B. melitensis gene expression was compared to the gene expression of the inoculum (n = 2). Every Brucella melitensis open reading frame was printed in triplicate on each microarray, thereby providing three technical replicates for each biological replicates. Each replicate was normalized against labeled Brucella melitensis genomic DNA.

Project description:Many pathogenic bacteria use a regulatory process termed Quorum Sensing (QS) to produce and detect small diffusible molecules to synchronize gene expression within a population. In Gram-negative bacteria, the detection and response to these molecules depend on transcriptional regulators belonging to the LuxR family. Such a system have been discovered in the intracellular pathogen Brucella melitensis, a Gram-negative bacteria responsible for brucellosis, a word-wide zoonosis remaining a serious public health concern in endemic countries. Two LuxR-type regulators, VjbR and BabR, have been identified in the genome of this pathogen. The vjbR mutant is highly attenuated in all tested models suggesting a crucial role of QS in the virulence of Brucella. This attenuation is at least due to the involvement of VjbR in the activation of the virB operon coding for a type four secretion system essential for Brucella to reach its intracellular replication compartment. At present, no function has been attributed to BabR. To assess the role of both Brucella QS-regulators, we performed in tandem comparative transcriptomic and proteomic analyses of vjbR and babR mutants. These experiments revealed that 10% of Brucella genome is regulated through those regulators, revealing that QS is a global regulatory system in this intracellular pathogen. The overlapping between BabR and VjbR targets suggest an unexpected cross-talk between these two regulators. Moreover, our results demonstrate that VjbR and BabR regulate many gene and/or proteins involved in stress response, metabolism and virulence. These targets are potentially involved in the adaptation of Brucella to the oxidative, pH and nutritional stresses encountered within the host. These findings highlight the involvement of QS in the virulence of Brucella and led us to suggest that this regulatory system could be implied in the spatial and sequential adaptation of Brucella to the host environment. Keywords: Quorum Sensing, Comparative gene expression, Brucella melitensis

Dataset Information

Brucella melitensis UK31/99

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