Project description:Two lineages of enterohemorrhagic (EHEC) Escherichia coli O157:H7 (EDL933, Stx1+ and Stx2+) and 86-24 (Stx2+) were investigated in regards to biofilm formation on an abiotic surface. Strikingly, EDL933 strain formed a robust biofilm while 86-24 strain formed no biofilm on either a polystyrene plate or a polyethylene tube. To identify the genetic mechanisms of different biofilm formation in two EHEC strains, DNA microarrays were first performed and phenotypic assays were followed. In the comparison of the EDL933 strain versus 86-24 strain, genes (csgBAC and csgDEFG) involved in curli biosynthesis were significantly induced while genes (trpLEDCB and mtr) involved in indole signaling were repressed. Additionally, a dozen of phage genes were differentially present between two strains. Curli assays using a Congo red plate and scanning electron microscopy corroborate the microarray data as the EDL 933 strain produces a large amount of curli, while 86-24 forms much less curli. Also, the indole production in the EDL933 was 2-times lower than that of 86-24. It was known that curli formation positively regulates and indole negatively regulates biofilm formation of EHEC. Hence, it appears that less curli formation and high indole production in the 86-24 strain are majorly responsible for no biofilm formation. For the microarray experiments, E. coli O157:H7 EDL933 and 86-24 were inoculated in 25 ml of LB in 250 ml shake flasks with overnight cultures that were diluted 1:100. Cells were shaken at 250 rpm and 37°C for an absorbance of 4.0 at 600 nm. Cells were immediately chilled with dry ice and 95% ethanol (to prevent RNA degradation) for 30 sec before centrifugation in 50 ml centrifuge tubes at 13,000 g for 2 min; cell pellets were frozen immediately with dry ice and stored -80°C. RNA was isolated using Qiagen RNeasy mini Kit (Valencia, CA, USA). RNA quality was assessed by Agilent 2100 bioanalyser using the RNA 6000 Nano Chip (Agilent Technologies, Amstelveen, The Netherlands), and quantity was determined by ND-1000 Spectrophotometer (NanoDrop Technologies, Inc., DE, USA).

Project description:EHEC is a food-borne pathogen that colonizes human GI tract and leads to infection. To understand the process of colonization and to decipher if any factors secreted by intestinal epithelial cells help EHEC during the infection process, we studied expression of EHEC virulence gene expression when exposed to intestinal epithelial cell conditioned medium. In our study, we observed that exposure to epithelial cell conditioned medium for 1 h and 3 h increases expression of 32 out of 41 EHEC LEE virulence genes. In addition, expression of the shiga toxin 1 (Stx1) gene is up-regulated at 1 h of exposure. Also, 17 genes encoded by prophage 933W, including those for Stx2, are also upregulated at both time-points. The increase in 933W prophage expression is mirrored by a 2.7-fold increase in intracellular Stx2 phage titers. Consistent with the increase in virulence gene expression, we observed a 5-fold increase in EHEC attachment to epithelial cells when exposed to conditioned medium, suggesting that EHEC utilizes host cell molecules to increase virulence and infectivity. The molecule(s) responsible for increased EHEC virulence is heat-sensitive as heating the conditioned medium to 95oC abolishes the increase in attachment to epithelial cells. A similar decrease was observed when the conditioned medium was treated with proteinase-K to degrade the proteins. The secreted molecule(s) was found to be larger than 3 kDa and strongly suggests that the HCT-8 secreted molecule that increases EHEC virulence and colonization is a protein-based molecule. Affymetrix E. coli Genome 2.0 Arrays were used to determine the changes in EHEC virulence gene expression on exposure to intestinal epithelial cell-secreted factors (through growth in conditioned medium). Overnight cultures of EHEC were diluted in LB medium to a turbidity of 0.1 at 600 nm. The cells were allowed to grow to a turbidity of 1.0 at 600 nm at 37Â°C and the EHEC cells were then resuspended in either fresh or conditioned medium. The cultures were then allowed to grow for 1 h or 3 h before cell pellets were collected by centrifugation and stored at -80Â°C. Total RNA was isolated from the cell pellets (173) and RNA quality was assessed using gel electrophoresis. Escherichia coli Genome 2.0 arrays (Affymetrix, Santa Clara, CA, USA) containing 10,208 probe sets for all 20,366 genes present in four strains of E. coli, including EHEC, were used to profile changes in gene expression using RNA samples for each treatment.

Project description:RpoS is a conserved stress regulator that plays a critical role in survival under stress conditions in Escherichia coli and other γ-proteobacteria. RpoS is also involved in virulence of many pathogens including Salmonella and Vibrio species. Though well characterized in non-pathogenic E. coli K12 strains, the effect of RpoS on transcriptome expression has not been examined in pathogenic isolates. E. coli O157:H7 is a serious human enteropathogen, possessing a genome 20% larger than that of E. coli K12, and many of the additional genes are required for virulence. The genomic difference may result in substantial changes in RpoS-regulated gene expression. To test this, we compared the transcriptional profile of wild type and rpoS mutants of the E. coli O157:H7 EDL933 type strain. The rpoS mutation had a pronounced effect on gene expression in stationary phase, and more than 1,000 genes were differentially expressed (two-fold, p<0.05). By contrast, we found 11 genes expressed differently in exponential phase. Western blot analysis revealed that, as expected, RpoS level was low in exponential phase and substantially increased in stationary phase. The defect in rpoS resulted in impaired expression of genes responsible for stress response (e.g., gadA, katE and osmY), arginine degradation (astCADBE), putrescine degradation (puuABCD), fatty acid oxidation (fadBA and fadE), and virulence (ler, espI and cesF). For EDL933-specific genes on O-islands, we found 50 genes expressed higher in wild type EDL933 and 49 genes expressed higher in the rpoS mutants. The protein levels of Tir and EspA, two LEE-encoded virulence factors, were elevated in the rpoS mutants under LEE induction conditions. Our results show that RpoS has a profound effect on global gene expression in the pathogenic strain O157:H7 EDL933, and the identified RpoS regulon, including many EDL933-specific genes, differs substantially from that of laboratory K12 strains. In this study, we characterized the RpoS regulon of E. coli O157:H7 strain EDL933 using microarray analysis.

Project description:RpoS is a conserved stress regulator that plays a critical role in survival under stress conditions in Escherichia coli and other γ-proteobacteria. RpoS is also involved in virulence of many pathogens including Salmonella and Vibrio species. Though well characterized in non-pathogenic E. coli K12 strains, the effect of RpoS on transcriptome expression has not been examined in pathogenic isolates. E. coli O157:H7 is a serious human enteropathogen, possessing a genome 20% larger than that of E. coli K12, and many of the additional genes are required for virulence. The genomic difference may result in substantial changes in RpoS-regulated gene expression. To test this, we compared the transcriptional profile of wild type and rpoS mutants of the E. coli O157:H7 EDL933 type strain. The rpoS mutation had a pronounced effect on gene expression in stationary phase, and more than 1,000 genes were differentially expressed (two-fold, p<0.05). By contrast, we found 11 genes expressed differently in exponential phase. Western blot analysis revealed that, as expected, RpoS level was low in exponential phase and substantially increased in stationary phase. The defect in rpoS resulted in impaired expression of genes responsible for stress response (e.g., gadA, katE and osmY), arginine degradation (astCADBE), putrescine degradation (puuABCD), fatty acid oxidation (fadBA and fadE), and virulence (ler, espI and cesF). For EDL933-specific genes on O-islands, we found 50 genes expressed higher in wild type EDL933 and 49 genes expressed higher in the rpoS mutants. The protein levels of Tir and EspA, two LEE-encoded virulence factors, were elevated in the rpoS mutants under LEE induction conditions. Our results show that RpoS has a profound effect on global gene expression in the pathogenic strain O157:H7 EDL933, and the identified RpoS regulon, including many EDL933-specific genes, differs substantially from that of laboratory K12 strains. In this study, we characterized the RpoS regulon of E. coli O157:H7 strain EDL933 using microarray analysis. A precise rpoS deletion mutant of EDL933 was constructed and employed in this study. EDL933 wild type and rpoS mutants were inoculated in triplicate into LB media at a starting OD of 0.0001 and grown aerobically at 37C. Cultures were harvested at OD600 = 0.3 in exponential phase and OD600=1.5 in stationary phase. For RNA extraction, cultures were mixed directly with a boiling lysis buffer containing SDS and EDTA followed by acidic hot phenol to minimize RNA degradation. RNA samples were hybridized to Affymetrix E. coli Genome 2.0 Array according to Affymetrix's standard protocols.

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RNA-seq to profile the H-NS transcriptome in EHEC O157:H7 strain EDL933

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