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Transcriptional Responses of Herbaspirillum seropedicae to Environmental Phosphate Concentration.

ABSTRACT: Herbaspirillum seropedicae is a nitrogen-fixing endophytic bacterium associated with important cereal crops, which promotes plant growth, increasing their productivity. The understanding of the physiological responses of this bacterium to different concentrations of prevailing nutrients as phosphate (Pi) is scarce. In some bacteria, culture media Pi concentration modulates the levels of intracellular polyphosphate (polyP), modifying their cellular fitness. Here, global changes of H. seropedicae SmR1 were evaluated in response to environmental Pi concentrations, based on differential intracellular polyP levels. Cells grown in high-Pi medium (50 mM) maintained high polyP levels in stationary phase, while those grown in sufficient Pi medium (5 mM) degraded it. Through a RNA-seq approach, comparison of transcriptional profiles of H. seropedicae cultures revealed that 670 genes were differentially expressed between both Pi growth conditions, with 57% repressed and 43% induced in the high Pi condition. Molecular and physiological analyses revealed that aspects related to Pi metabolism, biosynthesis of flagella and chemotaxis, energy production, and polyhydroxybutyrate metabolism were induced in the high-Pi condition, while those involved in adhesion and stress response were repressed. The present study demonstrated that variations in environmental Pi concentration affect H. seropedicae traits related to survival and other important physiological characteristics. Since environmental conditions can influence the effectiveness of the plant growth-promoting bacteria, enhancement of bacterial robustness to withstand different stressful situations is an interesting challenge. The obtained data could serve not only to understand the bacterial behavior in respect to changes in rhizospheric Pi gradients but also as a base to design strategies to improve different bacterial features focusing on biotechnological and/or agricultural purposes.

SUBMITTER: Grillo-Puertas M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8222739 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Purpose: The global changes of H. seropedicae SmR1 were evaluated in response to environmental Pi conditions, based on differential intracellular polyP levels Methods: Three independent samples (biological replicates) of H. seropedicae SmR1 cells grown in NFb5 or NFb50 media after 9 h of growth were used to construct 6 sequencing libraries.The libraries were amplified and enriched using the Ion PI Hi-QTM OT2 200 Kit, and sequenced with the Ion PI Hi-QTM Sequencing 200 kit on an Ion PITM Chip Kit v3. Obtained sequences were trimmed, mapped and analyzed using CLC Genomics Workbench 7.5.1 (Qiagen) against the H. seropedicae SmR1 genome (NC_014323). Differential gene expression was accessed using the DESeq2 package. qRT–PCR validation was performed using High Capacity cDNA Reverse Transcription Kit (Applied Biosystems), and quantified in triplicate using the Power SYBR-Green PCR MasterMix on a Step-One Plus Real Time-PCR System (Applied Biosystems). Results: After sequencing, 26 and 35 total million reads were obtained for NFb50 and NFb5 conditions, respectively, and from those, 12 million and 16 million reads were uniquely mapped to the H. seropedicae SmR1 genome. Biological replicates showed a very high level of correlation (r2 > 0.98). Among the 4805 genes of the H. seropedicae SmR1 genome, 3976 genes were expressed considering a read coverage equal or higher than three-fold. 1330 genes show expression levels statistically different (p-value ≤ 0.05) from which 670 had fold changes of 2 or higher and were considered differentially expressed genes (DEG) in NFb50 vs NFb5 transcriptome, being 385 down-regulated and 285 up-regulated. To confirm the differential expression observed by the RNA-seq data, the regulation of some genes was confirmed by RT-qPCR. Molecular and physiological analyses revealed that features related to Pi metabolism, bacterial flagella biosynthesis and chemotaxis, energy production, and polyhydroxybutyrate metabolism were induced in the mentioned condition, while aspects involved in adhesion, and stress response were repressed. Since environmental conditions can influence the effectiveness of the PGPB, enhancement of bacterial robustness to withstand different conditions is an interesting challenge Conclusions: The present study demonstrated that variations in environmental Pi concentration affect H. seropedicae bacterial traits related to survival and other important physiological characteristics. The obtained data could serve not only to understand the bacterial behavior in respect to changes in rhizospheric Pi gradients, but also as a base to design strategies to improve different bacterial features focusing in biotechnological and/or agricultural purposes.

Project description:Herbaspirillum seropedicae Z67 is a nitrogen-fixing endophyte that colonizes many important crops. Like in almost all organisms, vital cellular processes of this endophyte are iron dependent. In order to efficiently acquire iron to fulfill its requirements, this bacterium produces the siderophores serobactins. However, the presence in its genome of many others iron acquisition genes suggests that serobactins are not the only strategy used by H. seropedicae to overcome metal deficiency. The aim of this work was to identify genes and proteins differentially expressed by cells growing in low iron conditions in order to describe H. seropedicae response to iron limitation stress. For this purpose, and by using a transcriptomic approach, we searched and identified a set of genes up-regulated when iron was scarce. One of them, Hsero_2337, codes for a TonB-dependent transporter/transducer present in the serobactins biosynthesis genomic locus, with an unknown function. Another TonB-dependent receptor, the one encoded by Hsero_1277, and an inner membrane ferrous iron permease, coded by Hsero_2720, were also detected. By using a proteomic approach focused in membrane proteins, we identified the specific receptor for iron-serobactin internalization SbtR and two non-characterized TonB-dependent receptors (coded by genes Hsero_1277 and Hsero_3255). We constructed mutants on some of the identified genes and characterized them by in vitro growth, biofilm formation, and interaction with rice plants. Characterization of mutants in gene Hsero_2337 showed that the TonB-dependent receptor coded by this gene has a regulatory role in the biosynthesis of serobactins, probably by interacting with the alternative sigma factor PfrI, coded by gene Hsero_2338. Plant colonization of the mutant strains was not affected, since the mutant strain normally colonize the root and aerial part of rice plants. These results suggest that the strategies used by H. seropedicae to acquire iron inside plants are far more diverse than the ones characterized in this work. In vivo expression studies or colonization competition experiments between the different mutant strains could help us in future works to determine the relative importance of the different iron acquisition systems in the interaction of H. seropedicae with rice plants.

Project description:BackgroundHerbaspirillum seropedicae is an environmental β-proteobacterium that is capable of promoting the growth of economically relevant plants through biological nitrogen fixation and phytohormone production. However, strains of H. seropedicae have been isolated from immunocompromised patients and associated with human infections and deaths. In this work, we sequenced the genomes of two clinical strains of H. seropedicae, AU14040 and AU13965, and compared them with the genomes of strains described as having an environmental origin.ResultsBoth genomes were closed, indicating a single circular chromosome; however, strain AU13965 also carried a plasmid of 42,977 bp, the first described in the genus Herbaspirillum. Genome comparison revealed that the clinical strains lost the gene sets related to biological nitrogen fixation (nif) and the type 3 secretion system (T3SS), which has been described to be essential for interactions with plants. Comparison of the pan-genomes of clinical and environmental strains revealed different sets of accessorial genes. However, antimicrobial resistance genes were found in the same proportion in all analyzed genomes. The clinical strains also acquired new genes and genomic islands that may be related to host interactions. Among the acquired islands was a cluster of genes related to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) biosynthesis. Although highly conserved in environmental strains, the LPS biosynthesis genes in the two clinical strains presented unique and non-orthologous genes within the genus Herbaspirillum. Furthermore, the AU14040 strain cluster contained the neuABC genes, which are responsible for sialic acid (Neu5Ac) biosynthesis, indicating that this bacterium could add it to its lipopolysaccharide. The Neu5Ac-linked LPS could increase the bacterial resilience in the host aiding in the evasion of the immune system.ConclusionsOur findings suggest that the lifestyle transition from environment to opportunist led to the loss and acquisition of specific genes allowing adaptations to colonize and survive in new hosts. It is possible that these substitutions may be the starting point for interactions with new hosts.

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Transcriptional Responses of Herbaspirillum seropedicae to Environmental Phosphate Concentration.

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