Project description:Iron is an essential cofactor for a wide range of cellular processes. Previous studies have shown that siderophore-mediated uptake and intracellular handling of iron are crucial for virulence of Aspergillus fumigatus. Here we show that the bzip-type transcription factor HapX plays a crucial role in the transcriptional remodeling required for adaption to iron starvation in this opportunistic fungal pathogen. HapX was found to be interconnected in a negative feed-back loop with the previously identified iron regulator SreA: SreA repressed expression of hapX during iron sufficiency and HapX repressed sreA during iron starvation. Genome-wide transcriptional profiling and analysis of selected metabolites (protophorphyrine IX, siderophores and amino acids) indicated extensive metabolic remodeling in response to iron starvation. HapX was found to participate in both, repression and activation of genes during iron starvation. HapX was in particular required for repression of iron-dependent and mitochondrial-localized activities including respiration, TCA cycle, amino acid metabolism, iron-sulfur-cluster biosynthesis and heme biosynthesis. Pathways positively affected by HapX included production of siderophores and the ribotoxin and major allergen AspF1. Analysis of the free amino acid pool revealed HapX-dependent coordination of the production of siderophores with the supply of its precursor ornithine. Consistent with the hapX expression pattern, HapX-deficiency was deleterious with respect to growth rate and conidiation during iron depleted but not iron-replete conditions. HapX-deficiency caused significant attenuation of virulence in a murine model aspergillosis underlining that A. fumigatus faces iron starvation in the host and that the HapX-dependent metabolic reprogramming is therefore crucial for virulence. A. fumigatus 293 and hapX mutants were grown in the presence and absence of iron and in cultures shifted from no iron to iron-containing conditions after 1 h incubation. Hybridizations were performed with biological replicates for wt vs hapX +/- iron. For the iron-shift experiments, there were biological replicates for wt in both conditions and for hapX in -iron but there was only a single biological sample for hapX iron-shift sample. All hybs were performed with flip-dye pairs.

Project description:Listeria monocytogenes is well known to have the ability to survive and grow under a variety of stress conditions. The ability to survive and grow under osmotic stress conditions in particular appears to be important for both growth in certain foods and food associated environments as well as for host infection. To characterize the contributions of transcriptional regulators important for stress response and virulence (i.e., Sigma B - M-OM-^CB and PrfA), we initially analyzed three L. monocytogenes parent strains and isogenic mutants ( delta sigB, delta prfA, and delta sigB delta prfA), representing different serotypes and lineages, for their ability to grow in BHI with 11% NaCl (1.9M) at 25M-BM-0C. No significant differences were observed in terms of growth between the parent strains and their respective mutants lacking prfA (i.e. delta prfA, and delta sigB delta prfA mutant strains). While for all strains, the delta sigB mutant showed a prolonged lag phase as compared to the parent strains, maximum growth rates were only reduced for the delta sigB mutant of lineage I and IV strains. Interestingly, for the serotype 1/2b strain, the delta sigB mutant reached a higher maximum cell density than the parent strain or the delta prfA mutant. Caco-2 intestinal epithelial cells invasion assays and hemolytic activity assays showed a significant role for M-OM-^CB in the former and for PrfA in the latter. To initially explore the mechanism that may contribute to the extended lag phase in the delta sigB mutant, microarray was performed to compare transcript levels between the lineage I, serotype 1/2b, parent strain and its isogenic delta sigB mutant in lag phase at 25M-BM-0C in the presence of 11% NaCl. Microarray data showed significant lower and higher transcript levels for 135 and 173 genes, respectively, in the parent strain as compared to the delta sigB strains. Overall, 51 of the 173 M-OM-^CB up-regulated genes had previously been found among the 249 M-OM-^CB-dependent genes identified in a microarray study conducted in stationary phase cells, indicating that up to 122 genes may be transcribed in a M-OM-^CB-dependent manner during lag phase under salt stress. Notable genes that showed higher transcript levels in the parent strain include inlD (encoding an internalin protein that may be involved in virulence), sigH (encoding an alternative M-OM-^C factor), glpK (encoding a glycerol kinase) and resD (encoding a two-component response regulator ResD); while, genes that showed lower transcript levels in the parent strain include dnaK (encoding a dihydroxyacetone kinase), groES (encoding a class I heat-shock protein GroES), grpE (encoding a co-chaperone GrpE) and fri (encoding a non-heme iron-binding ferritin). These data showed that although PrfA does not contribute to growth under osmotic stress at 25M-BM-0C, M-OM-^CB does contribute to survival of L. monocytogenes under high salt conditions. Moreover, the M-OM-^CB-dependent transcriptome of L. monocytogenes lag phase cells under salt stress was characterized and includes previously identified as well as novel M-OM-^CB-dependent genes, including a number of stress response and virulence-associated genes. Independent RNA isolations were performed for one wildtype (lineage I) and M-NM-^TsigB strains from cells grown to lag phase. Three biological replicates were used in competitive whole-genome microarray experiments. For each set of hybridizations, RNA from a L. monocytogenes wildtype strain was hybridized with RNA from its isogenic M-NM-^TsigB null mutant.

Project description:The enteric bacterium Proteus mirabilis is a common cause of complicated urinary tract infections. In the study, microrarrays were used to analyze P. mirabilis gene expression in vivo from experimentally infected mice. Urine was collected at 1, 3, and 7d postinfection, and RNA was isolated from bacteria in the urine for transcriptional analysis. Across 9 microarrays, 471 genes were upregulated and 82 were downregulated in vivo compared to in vitro broth culture. Genes upregulated in vivo encoded MR/P fimbriae, urease, iron uptake systems, amino acid and peptide transporters, pyruvate metabolism, and portions of the TCA cycle. Flagella were downregulated. Ammonia assimilation gene glnA (glutamine synthetase) was repressed in vivo while gdhA (glutamate dehydrogenase) was upregulated in vivo. Contrary to our expectations, ammonia availability due to urease activity in P. mirabilis did not drive this gene expression. A gdhA mutant was growth-deficient in minimal medium with citrate as the sole carbon source, and loss of gdhA resulted in a significant fitness defect in the mouse model of urinary tract infection. Unlike Escherichia coli, which represses gdhA and upregulates glnA in vivo and cannot utilize citrate, the data suggest that P. mirabilis uses glutamate dehydrogenase to monitor carbon-nitrogen balance, and this ability contributes to the pathogenic potential of P. mirabilis in the urinary tract. Voided urine from female CBA/J mice infected with Proteus mirabilis was collected and pooled in RNA stabilizing reagent (RNAprotect). Urine was collected at 1, 3, and 7 d postinfection. RNA was isolated from urine and log-phase LB cultures, converted to cDNA, and labeled with CyDye. Three arrays were completed per time point (9 arrays total). Slides were scanned with a ScanArray Express microarray scanner (Perkin Elmer) at 10 μm resolution and quantified using ScanArray Express software. Resulting data were normalized by total intensity and median spot intensities were identified using MIDAS (v. 2.22) software.

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