Dataset Information

Genomic island genes in a coastal marine Synechococcus strain confer enhanced tolerance to copper and oxidative stress.

ABSTRACT: Highly variable regions called genomic islands are found in the genomes of marine picocyanobacteria, and have been predicted to be involved in niche adaptation and the ecological success of these microbes. These picocyanobacteria are typically highly sensitive to copper stress and thus, increased copper tolerance could confer a selective advantage under some conditions seen in the marine environment. Through targeted gene inactivation of genomic island genes that were known to be upregulated in response to copper stress in Synechococcus sp. strain CC9311, we found two genes (sync_1495 and sync_1217) conferred tolerance to both methyl viologen and copper stress in culture. The prevalence of one gene, sync_1495, was then investigated in natural samples, and had a predictable temporal variability in abundance at a coastal monitoring site with higher abundance in winter months. Together, this shows that genomic island genes can confer an adaptive advantage to specific stresses in marine Synechococcus, and may help structure their population diversity.

SUBMITTER: Stuart RK

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3660668 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Genomic island genes in a coastal marine Synechococcus strain confer enhanced tolerance to copper and oxidative stress.

Stuart Rhona K RK Brahamsha Bianca B Busby Kayla K Palenik Brian B

The ISME journal 20130124 6

Highly variable regions called genomic islands are found in the genomes of marine picocyanobacteria, and have been predicted to be involved in niche adaptation and the ecological success of these microbes. These picocyanobacteria are typically highly sensitive to copper stress and thus, increased copper tolerance could confer a selective advantage under some conditions seen in the marine environment. Through targeted gene inactivation of genomic island genes that were known to be upregulated in ...[more]

PMID: 23344240

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Project description:We have looked at the transcriptional response of well characterised Synechococcus open ocean (WH8102) and coastal (CC9311) isolates to two DNA damaging agents, mitomycin C and ethidium bromide, using whole genome expression microarrays. The coastal strain, which was able to grow on higher concentrations of both chemicals, showed differential regulation of a larger proportion of its genome following M-bM-^@M-^Xtoxic shockM-bM-^@M-^Y treatment with each agent. Many of the orthologous genes in these strains, including those encoding sensor kinases, showed different transcriptional responses, with the CC9311 genes more likely to show significant changes for each tested treatment. While the overall response of each strain was considerably different, there were distinct transcriptional responses common to both strains observed for each DNA damaging agent, linked to the mode of action of each chemical. In both CC9311 and WH8102 there was evidence of SOS response induction under mitomycin C treatment, with genes encoding recA, the lexA repressor and umuC significantly upregulated in this experiment but not under ethidium bromide treatment. Conversely, ethidium bromide treatment tended to result in upregulation of the DNA-directed RNA polymerase genes, not observed following mitomycin C treatment. Interestingly, a large number of genes residing on putative genomic island regions of each genome also showed significant upregulation under one or both chemical treatments. In this series four conditions have been analyzed. These are 2 hour incubations (shock treatment) with ethidium bromide (EB, final conc 2ug/mL) and mitomycin C (MC, final conc 0.5 ug/mL) for Synechococcus sp. WH8102 and CC9311. For each slide, an experimental RNA sample was labeled with Cy3 or Cy5 and was hybridized with a reference RNA from a control sample (no addition of chemical agent) labeled with the other Cy dye. There are six slides per condition, each with at least two biological replicates and three technical replicates, including at least one flip-dye comparison. Each slide contains six replicate spots per gene.

Dataset Information

Genomic island genes in a coastal marine Synechococcus strain confer enhanced tolerance to copper and oxidative stress.

Publications

Genomic island genes in a coastal marine Synechococcus strain confer enhanced tolerance to copper and oxidative stress.

Similar Datasets

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