Project description:Global regulatory roles of the TCS response regulator CovR in GBS serotype 1a A909 Keywords: Strain comparison; global regulation Deletion mutant was examined for alterations in gene expression
Project description:Global regulatory roles of the TCS response regulator CovR in GBS serotype 1a A909 Keywords: Strain comparison; global regulation Deletion mutant was examined for alterations in gene expression
Project description:Streptococcus agalactiae (Lancefield’s group B Streptococcus, GBS) is a major bacterial species of genus Streptococcus and has medical and veterinary importance by affecting mainly humans (Maione et al., 2005; Johri et al., 2006), cattle (Keefe, 1997) and fish (Mian et al., 2009). The GBS is the most important pathogen for the Nile tilapia, a global commodity of the aquaculture sector, causing outbreaks of septicemia and meningoencephalitis (Hernández et al., 2009; Mian et al., 2009). This study aimed to evaluate the global abundancy of proteins among the main genotypes of GBS isolated from fish identified in Brazil using a label free shotgun liquid chromatography-ultra definition mass spectrometry (LC-UDMSE) approach and to compare the differential expression of proteins identified between isolates from fish and human.
Project description:Regulation of gene expression in response to variable and often adverse environmental conditions is an essential component of microbial pathogenesis. We identified the two-component regulatory system CiaRH in a screen for genes essential for the survival of Streptococcus agalactiae (Group B Streptococcus, GBS) on exposure to in vitro models of environmental stress. We constructed site-directed, non-polar deletion mutations in the regulator gene ciaR and compared the growth of CiaR mutant GBS to wild-type GBS under stressed conditions. CiaR mutant GBS are more sensitive than wild-type GBS to elevated temperature, low pH, chemical mutagens and ultraviolet light; the mutants are also more sensitive to cell-wall active antibiotics and antimicrobial peptides. CiaR mutant strains are markedly attenuated in a mouse model of GBS sepsis. To determine the genes regulated by CiaR that account for these defects, transcriptional profiling was performed using DNA microarray analysis, comparing wild-type GBS to CiaR mutant GBS under non-stressed conditions.
Project description:Group B Streptococcus (GBS) strain CNCTC 10/84 was modified to have specific mutations to the cas9 gene: allelic exchange replacement with a chloramphenicol resistance marker (Cas9 knockout), D10A and H845A (catalytically inactive dCas9), or R1339A and R1441A (sCas9 unable to scan for protospacer adjacent motifs). Wild type (WT) and mutant strains were grown in biological triplicate samples and used for RNA purification at two growth timepoints: OD600=0.6 and OD600=1.2. Additionally, CNCTC 10/84 dCas9 and A909 dCas9 were transformed with p3015b expression plasmids expressing sgRNA cassettes designed to downregulate the cyl operon in CNCTC 10/84 dCas9 and the covR/covS two-component system in A909 dCas9. Triplicate samples were grown alongside control transformants bearing "sham" sgRNA plasmid. RNA was purified at OD600=1.2. All RNA samples were used for RNA-seq and subsequent bioinformatic analyses.
Project description:We report the characterization of the major regulator of virulence gene expression (CovR) in Group B Streptococcus. The ChIP-seq experiments define the binding of CovR on the chromosome of the BM110 strain, a representative of the hypervirulent GBS lineage responsible of neonatal meningitis. Regulatory evolution of CovR signaling was investigated by comparing ChIP-seq done in parallel in a second GBS clinical isolate (NEM316) not belonging to the hypervirulent lineage.
Project description:Streptococcus agalactiae (Group B Streptococcus, GBS) is a leading cause of early-onset neonatal bacterial infection. Evasion of innate immune defenses is critical to neonatal GBS disease pathogenesis. Effectors of the innate immune system such as antimicrobial peptides, as well as numerous antibiotics, target the peptidoglycan layer of the gram positive bacterial cell wall. The intramembrane-sensing histidine kinase class of two-component regulatory systems has recently been identified as important to the gram-positive response to cell wall stress. We identified and characterized the GBS homolog of LiaR, the response regulator component of the LiaFSR system and constructed site-directed, non-polar deletion mutations in the regulator gene liaR. GBS LiaR deletion mutant strains are more susceptible to cell wall active antibiotics (vancomycin and bacitracin) as well as antimicrobial peptides (colistin, nisin and the human cathelicidin LL-37) compared to isogenic wild-type GBS. LiaR mutant GBS are significantly attenuated in mouse models of both GBS sepsis and GBS pneumonia. To determine the genes regulated by LiaR that account for these defects, transcriptional profiling was performed using DNA microarray analysis, comparing wild-type GBS to LiaR mutant GBS under non-stressed conditions.