Global transcriptional response of Methylorubrum extorquens to formaldehyde stress includes both overlapping and unique gene sets in comparison to antibiotic translational inhibition and expands the role of EfgA

ABSTRACT: The potency and indiscriminate nature of formaldehyde reactivity upon biological molecules make it a universal stressor. However, some organisms such as Methylorubrum extorquens possess means to rapidly and effectively mitigate formaldehyde-induced damage. EfgA is a recently identified formaldehyde sensor predicted to halt translation in response to elevated formaldehyde as a means to protect cells. Herein, we investigate growth, formaldehyde consumption, and changes in gene expression to better understand how M. extorquens responds to formaldehyde with and without the EfgA-formaldehyde-mediated translational response, and how this mechanism compares to other forms of translation inhibition. These distinct mechanisms of translation inhibition have notable differences: they each involve different specific players and in addition, formaldehyde also acts as a general, multi-target stressor and a potential carbon source. Here, we present findings demonstrating that in addition to its characterized impact on translation, functional EfgA also allows for a rapid and robust transcriptional response to formaldehyde and that removal of efgA leads to heightened proteotoxic and genotoxic stress in the presence of increased formaldehyde levels. As our previous work suggested that formaldehyde is proteotoxic in M. extorquens, we accurately predicted that strains lacking efgA would experience increased protein damage. We also found that many downstream consequences of translation inhibition were shared by EfgA-formaldehyde- and kanamycin-mediated translation inhibition. Our work to modularize the transcriptional response uncovered additional layers of regulatory control enacted by functional EfgA upon experiencing formaldehyde stress, and further demonstrate the importance this protein plays at both transcriptional and translational levels in this model methylotroph.

ORGANISM(S): Methylorubrum extorquens

PROVIDER: GSE163955 | GEO | 2020/12/31

REPOSITORIES: GEO