Physiological and molecular characterization of genetic competence in Streptococcus sanguinis
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ABSTRACT: Streptococcus sanguinis is a major component of the oral flora and an important cause of infective endocarditis. The genome sequence of S. sanguinis strain SK36 was recently determined. A number of foreign genes acquired by natural transformation were detected, as well as orthologs of competence genes previously identified in other species. However, significant differences in the S. sanguinis competence system relative to that of other streptococci were noted. We sought to examine S. sanguinis genetic competence, to characterize the global transcriptional response to competence induction, and to compare our results with those obtained from previous analyses of other streptococci. A mutant possessing an in-frame deletion in the comC gene encoding the competence-stimulating peptide was created and confirmed to have the expected phenotype. Studies indicated that competence could be induced in this strain by addition of competence-stimulating peptide, and determined the optimal conditions to employ for this purpose. Expression was monitored by microarray analysis at multiple time points from 2.5 to 30 min after induction. Over 200 genes were identified whose expression was altered at least two-fold in at least one time point, with the majority upregulated. The M-bM-^@M-^\lateM-bM-^@M-^] response was typical of that seen in previous studies. However, comparison of the M-bM-^@M-^\earlyM-bM-^@M-^] response in S. sanguinis with that of other streptococci revealed unexpected heterogeneity with regard to the number of genes induced, the nature of these genes, and their putative upstream regulatory sequences. S. sanguinis possesses a comparatively limited early response, which may define a minimal competence regulatory circuit. Transcriptional analysis of S. sanguinis strain JFP41 cells 0 to 30 min after treatment with CSP. Biological replicates: 3 replicates each independently grown and harvested. 4 technical replicates per array
ORGANISM(S): Streptococcus sanguinis
SUBMITTER: Alejandro Rodriguez
PROVIDER: E-GEOD-21619 | biostudies-arrayexpress |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-arrayexpress
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