Project description:Pseudomonas aeruginosa, the type species of the Pseudomonas genus, is an environmental Gram negative bacterium, well-known for its ability to produce toxins, resist antibiotics, and opportunistically colonize various niches, including invertebrate and vertebrate hosts. P. aeruginosa produces redox active secondary metabolites called phenazines involved in quorum sensing, biofilm formation, virulence, and iron acquisition. Moreover, these colorful pigmented virulence factors act as ligands for the highly conserved aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) thereby regulating antibacterial defenses in vertebrates. Pseudomonas spp. are some of the most frequently identified bacteria in larval and adult stages of wild mosquito populations. Here we investigated global transcriptional changes induced in A. coluzzii third instar larvae incubated with a sublethal concentration (50 µM) of 1-hydroxyphenazine (1-HP) or pyocyanin (Pyo) at 4 h and 8 h of continuous incubation by whole-genome DNA microarrays.
Project description:The GacS/GacA signal transduction system is a central regulator in Pseudomonas spp., including the biological control strain P. fluorescens Pf-5, in which GacS/GacA controls the production of secondary metabolites and exoenzymes that suppress plant pathogens. A whole genome oligonucleotide microarray was developed for Pf-5 and used to assess the global transcriptomic consequences of a gacA mutation in P. fluorescens Pf-5. In cultures at the transition from exponential to stationary growth phase, GacA significantly influenced transcript levels of 632 genes, representing more than 10% of the 6147 annotated genes in the Pf-5 genome. Transcripts of genes involved in the production of hydrogen cyanide, the antibiotic pyoluteorin, and the extracellular protease AprA were at a low level in the gacA mutant, whereas those functioning in siderophore production and other aspects of iron homeostasis were significantly higher in the gacA mutant than in wild-type Pf-5. Notable effects of gacA inactivation were also observed in the transcription of genes encoding components of a type VI secretion system and cytochrome C oxidase subunits. Two novel gene clusters expressed under the control of gacA were identified from transcriptome analysis, and we propose global-regulator-based genome mining as an approach to decipher the secondary metabolome of Pseudomonas spp.
Project description:Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen which causes acute and chronic infections that are difficult to treat. Comparative genomic analysis has showed a great genome diversity among P. aeruginosa clinical strains and revealed important regulatory traits during chronic adaptation. While current investigation of epigenetics of P. aeruginosa is still lacking, understanding the epigenetic regulation may provide biomarkers for diagnosis and reveal important regulatory mechanisms. The present study focused on characterization of DNA methyltransferases (MTases) in a chronically adapted P. aeruginosa clinical strain TBCF10839. Single-molecule real-time sequencing (SMRT-seq) was used to characterize the methylome of TBCF. RCCANNNNNNNTGAR and TRGANNNNNNTGC were identified as target motifs of DNA MTases, M.PaeTBCFI and M.PaeTBCFII, respectively.