Dataset Information

Hyperosmotic Stress Response Memory is Modulated by Gene Positioning in Yeast.

ABSTRACT: Cellular memory is a critical ability that allows microorganisms to adapt to potentially detrimental environmental fluctuations. In the unicellular eukaryote Saccharomyces cerevisiae, cellular memory can take the form of faster or slower responses within the cell population to repeated stresses. Using microfluidics and fluorescence time-lapse microscopy, we studied how yeast responds to short, pulsed hyperosmotic stresses at the single-cell level by analyzing the dynamic behavior of the stress-responsive STL1 promoter (pSTL1) fused to a fluorescent reporter. We established that pSTL1 exhibits variable successive activation patterns following two repeated short stresses. Despite this variability, most cells exhibited a memory of the first stress as decreased pSTL1 activity in response to the second stress. Notably, we showed that genomic location is important for the memory effect, since displacement of the promoter to a pericentromeric chromatin domain decreased the transcriptional strength of pSTL1 and led to a loss of memory. This study provides a quantitative description of a cellular memory that includes single-cell variability and highlights the contribution of chromatin structure to stress memory.

SUBMITTER: Meriem ZB

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6627694 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Hyperosmotic Stress Response Memory is Modulated by Gene Positioning in Yeast.

Meriem Zacchari Ben ZB Khalil Yasmine Y Hersen Pascal P Fabre Emmanuelle E

Cells 20190613 6

Cellular memory is a critical ability that allows microorganisms to adapt to potentially detrimental environmental fluctuations. In the unicellular eukaryote <i>Saccharomyces cerevisiae</i>, cellular memory can take the form of faster or slower responses within the cell population to repeated stresses. Using microfluidics and fluorescence time-lapse microscopy, we studied how yeast responds to short, pulsed hyperosmotic stresses at the single-cell level by analyzing the dynamic behavior of the s ...[more]

PMID: 31200564

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Project description:GsrN is a conserved small RNA that is under transcriptional control of the general stress sigma factor, ?T, and that functions as a posttranscriptional regulator of Caulobacter crescentus survival under multiple stress conditions. We have defined features of GsrN structure that determine survival under hyperosmotic stress, and we have applied transcriptomic and proteomic methods to identify regulatory targets of GsrN under hyperosmotic conditions. The 5' end of GsrN, which includes a conserved cytosine-rich stem-loop structure, is necessary for cell survival after osmotic upshock. GsrN both activates and represses gene expression in this stress condition. Expression of an uncharacterized open reading frame predicted to encode a glycine zipper protein, osrP, is strongly activated by GsrN. Our data support a model in which GsrN physically interacts with osrP mRNA through its 5' C-rich stem-loop to enhance OsrP protein expression. We conclude that sigT, gsrN, and osrP form a coherent feedforward loop in which ?T activates gsrN and osrP transcription during stress and GsrN activates OsrP protein expression at the posttranscriptional level. This study delineates transcriptional and posttranscriptional layers of Caulobacter gene expression control during hyperosmotic stress, uncovers a new regulatory target of GsrN, and defines a coherent feedforward motif in the Caulobacter general stress response (GSR) regulatory network.IMPORTANCE Bacteria inhabit diverse niches and must adapt their physiology to constant environmental fluctuations. A major response to environmental perturbation is to change gene expression. Caulobacter and other alphaproteobacteria initiate a complex gene expression program known as the general stress response (GSR) under conditions including oxidative stress, osmotic stress, and nutrient limitation. The GSR enables cell survival in these environments. Understanding how bacteria survive stress requires that we dissect gene expression responses, such as the GSR, at the molecular level. This study is significant, as it defines transcriptional and posttranscriptional layers of gene expression regulation in response to hyperosmotic stress. We further provide evidence that a coherent feedforward motif influences the system properties of the Caulobacter GSR pathway.

Dataset Information

Hyperosmotic Stress Response Memory is Modulated by Gene Positioning in Yeast.

Publications

Hyperosmotic Stress Response Memory is Modulated by Gene Positioning in Yeast.

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