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Analysis of convergent gene transcripts in the obligate intracellular bacterium Rickettsia prowazekii.

ABSTRACT: Termination of transcription is an important component of bacterial gene expression. However, little is known concerning this process in the obligate intracellular pathogen and model for reductive evolution, Rickettsia prowazekii. To assess transcriptional termination in this bacterium, transcripts of convergent gene pairs, some containing predicted intrinsic terminators, were analyzed. These analyses revealed that, rather than terminating at a specific site within the intervening region between the convergent genes, most of the transcripts demonstrated either a lack of termination within this region, which generated antisense RNA, or a putative non-site-specific termination that occurred throughout the intervening sequence. Transcripts terminating at predicted intrinsic terminators, as well as at a putative Rho-dependant terminator, were also examined and found to vary based on the rickettsial host environment. These results suggest that transcriptional termination, or lack thereof, plays a role in rickettsial gene regulation.

SUBMITTER: Woodard A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3027695 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Analysis of convergent gene transcripts in the obligate intracellular bacterium Rickettsia prowazekii.

Woodard Andrew A Wood David O DO

PloS one 20110126 1

Termination of transcription is an important component of bacterial gene expression. However, little is known concerning this process in the obligate intracellular pathogen and model for reductive evolution, Rickettsia prowazekii. To assess transcriptional termination in this bacterium, transcripts of convergent gene pairs, some containing predicted intrinsic terminators, were analyzed. These analyses revealed that, rather than terminating at a specific site within the intervening region between ...[more]

PMID: 21298070

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Project description:BackgroundCompleted genome sequences are rapidly increasing for Rickettsia, obligate intracellular alpha-proteobacteria responsible for various human diseases, including epidemic typhus and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. In light of phylogeny, the establishment of orthologous groups (OGs) of open reading frames (ORFs) will distinguish the core rickettsial genes and other group specific genes (class 1 OGs or C1OGs) from those distributed indiscriminately throughout the rickettsial tree (class 2 OG or C2OGs).Methodology/principal findingsWe present 1823 representative (no gene duplications) and 259 non-representative (at least one gene duplication) rickettsial OGs. While the highly reductive (approximately 1.2 MB) Rickettsia genomes range in predicted ORFs from 872 to 1512, a core of 752 OGs was identified, depicting the essential Rickettsia genes. Unsurprisingly, this core lacks many metabolic genes, reflecting the dependence on host resources for growth and survival. Additionally, we bolster our recent reclassification of Rickettsia by identifying OGs that define the AG (ancestral group), TG (typhus group), TRG (transitional group), and SFG (spotted fever group) rickettsiae. OGs for insect-associated species, tick-associated species and species that harbor plasmids were also predicted. Through superimposition of all OGs over robust phylogeny estimation, we discern between C1OGs and C2OGs, the latter depicting genes either decaying from the conserved C1OGs or acquired laterally. Finally, scrutiny of non-representative OGs revealed high levels of split genes versus gene duplications, with both phenomena confounding gene orthology assignment. Interestingly, non-representative OGs, as well as OGs comprised of several gene families typically involved in microbial pathogenicity and/or the acquisition of virulence factors, fall predominantly within C2OG distributions.Conclusion/significanceCollectively, we determined the relative conservation and distribution of 14354 predicted ORFs from 10 rickettsial genomes across robust phylogeny estimation. The data, available at PATRIC (PathoSystems Resource Integration Center), provide novel information for unwinding the intricacies associated with Rickettsia pathogenesis, expanding the range of potential diagnostic, vaccine and therapeutic targets.

Dataset Information

Analysis of convergent gene transcripts in the obligate intracellular bacterium Rickettsia prowazekii.

Publications

Analysis of convergent gene transcripts in the obligate intracellular bacterium Rickettsia prowazekii.

Similar Datasets

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