Project description:Group A Streptococcus (GAS) encodes two paralogs of the Spx transcriptional regulator, SpxA1 and SpxA2, which interact with RNA polymerase to modulate virulence gene expression. SpxA2 is directly regulated by the LiaFSR three-component system in response to antimicrobial peptide stress. To define how SpxA2 influences CovR DNA occupancy genome-wide, we performed chromatin immunoprecipitation with exonuclease treatment (ChIP-exo) targeting CovR in wild-type MGAS10870 (emm3), an isogenic spxA2 deletion mutant (deltaSpxA2), and a LiaSQ146A constitutively active LiaS mutant used as a SpxA2 overexpression surrogate (SpxA2-OE). Differential binding analysis identified 439 sites with significantly altered CovR occupancy between wild-type and deltaSpxA2 (FDR < 0.05), with class-specific enrichment of CovR dimer and monomer binding motifs consistent with the two-class CovR binding model (Horstmann et al. 2023). These data contribute to a multi-omic analysis including RNA-seq, DIA proteomics, and NanoString nCounter that defines the regulatory roles of SpxA1 and SpxA2 in GAS pathogenesis.
Project description:Group A Streptococcus (GAS) encodes two paralogs of the Spx transcriptional regulator, SpxA1 and SpxA2, which interact with RNA polymerase to modulate virulence gene expression. SpxA2 is directly regulated by the LiaFSR three-component system in response to antimicrobial peptide stress. To define how SpxA2 influences CovR DNA occupancy genome-wide, we performed chromatin immunoprecipitation with exonuclease treatment (ChIP-exo) targeting CovR in wild-type MGAS10870 (emm3), an isogenic spxA2 deletion mutant (deltaSpxA2), and a LiaSQ146A constitutively active LiaS mutant used as a SpxA2 overexpression surrogate (SpxA2-OE). Differential binding analysis identified 439 sites with significantly altered CovR occupancy between wild-type and deltaSpxA2 (FDR < 0.05), with class-specific enrichment of CovR dimer and monomer binding motifs consistent with the two-class CovR binding model (Horstmann et al. 2023). These data contribute to a multi-omic analysis including RNA-seq, DIA proteomics, and NanoString nCounter that defines the regulatory roles of SpxA1 and SpxA2 in GAS pathogenesis.
Project description:Two covR mutant derivatives of parental strain MGAS2221 were recovered from mice experimentally infected with MGAS2221 and shown to differ in terms of the number and concentration of secreted proteins. One of the covR mutant strains had a secretion phenotype identical to a covS mutant strain, while the other had a secretion phenotype identical to a constructed covR mutant strain. To further investigate the potential differences between the two covR mutant strains we performed expression microarray analysis. Single cultures of each of the four GAS strains tested were grown in THY broth to early exponential phase (O.D. 0.2). Two volumes of RNA protect were added, the samples incubated at room temperature for 5 minutes, and the bacteria collected through centrifugation. Total RNA was isolated via a mechaniscal disruption method, converted to cDNA, fragmented, labeled, and hybridized to our Affymetrix microarray. Estimates of gene expression were calculated using GCOS software v1.4. Data represent probes for serotype M1.
Project description:Transcriptional profiling of Streptococcus pyogenes MGAS5005 cells comparing control untreated GAS cells with GAS cells exposed to 4uM heme for 1.5 h
Project description:The control of virulence two-component gene regulatory system (CovRS) is critical to the pathogenesis of many medically important streptococci. In emm1 group A streptococci (GAS), CovR directly binds the promoters of numerous GAS virulence factor encoding genes. Elimination of CovS phosphatase activity increases CovR phosphorylation (CovR~P) levels and abrogates GAS virulence. Given the emm type-specific diversity of CovRS function, herein we used ChIP-seq to define global CovR DNA occupancy in the wild-type emm3 strain MGAS10870 (medium CovR~P) and its CovS phosphatase-negative derivative 10870-CovS-T284A (high CovR~P). In the wild-type emm3 strain, 89% of the previously identified emm1 CovR binding sites present in the emm3 genome were also enriched; additionally, we ascertained unique CovR binding, primarily to genes in mobile genetic elements and other sites of inter-strain chromosomal differences. Elimination of phosphatase activity specifically increased CovR occupancy at the promoters of a broad array of CovR repressed virulence factor encoding genes, including those encoding the key GAS regulator Mga and M protein. However, a limited number of promoters had augmented enrichment at low CovR~P levels. Differential motif searches using sequences enriched at high vs. low CovR~P levels revealed two distinct binding patterns. At high CovR~P, a pseudo-palindromic AT-rich consensus sequence consistent with CovR binding as a dimer was determined. Conversely, sequences specifically enriched at low CovR~P contained isolated “ATTARA” motifs suggesting an interaction with a monomer. These data extend understanding of global CovR DNA occupancy beyond emm1 GAS and provide a mechanism for previous observations regarding hypovirulence induced by CovS phosphatase abrogation.
Project description:Group A Streptococcus (GAS) encodes two paralogs of the Spx transcriptional regulator, SpxA1 and SpxA2, which interact with RNA polymerase to modulate virulence gene expression. To define the transcriptomic consequences of SpxA1 and SpxA2 loss, we performed strand-non-specific paired-end RNA-seq in the wild-type emm3 GAS strain MGAS10870 and isogenic deletion mutants (deltaSpxA1 and deltaSpxA2) grown to mid-exponential phase in Todd-Hewitt broth supplemented with 0.2% yeast extract (THY). Differential expression analysis identified distinct transcriptomic signatures for each paralog, with SpxA1 primarily influencing oxidative stress response genes and SpxA2 modulating CovR-regulated virulence factor-encoding genes. These data contribute to a multi-omic analysis including DIA proteomics, NanoString nCounter, and CovR ChIP-exo that defines the regulatory roles of SpxA1 and SpxA2 in GAS pathogenesis.