Project description:Transcriptome profiles of an aerobic photosynthetic bacterium Roseobacter denitrificans OCh114 grown under different oxygen tension and light irradiation conditions were determined by NimbleGen Prokaryotic Expression array (12x135K).
Project description:An aerobic photosynthetic bacterium Roseobacter denitrificans OCh114 has two DNR- and one FNR-type transcriptional regulators, which are predicted to sense nitric oxide and oxygen, respectively. To investigate the role of these regulators in regulation of the denitrification genes, transcriptome profiles of mutant strains of R. denitrificans OCh114 deficient in the genes for the DNR- or FNR-type regulators were determined by NimbleGen Prokaryotic Expression array (12x135K).
Project description:The fraction of dissolved dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSPd) converted by marine bacterioplankton into the climate-active gas dimethylsulfide (DMS) varies widely in the ocean, with the factors that determine this value still largely unknown. One current hypothesis is that the ratio of DMS formation:DMSP demethylation is determined by DMSP availability, with 'availability' in both an absolute sense (i.e., concentration in seawater) and in a relative sense (i.e., proportionally to other labile organic S compounds) being proposed as the critical factor. We investigated these models during an experimentally-induced phytoplankton bloom using an environmental microarray targeting DMSP-related gene expression in the Roseobacter group, a taxon of marine bacteria known to play an important role in the surface ocean sulfur cycle. The array consisted of 1,578 probes to 431 genes, including those previously linked to DMSP degradation as well as core genes common in sequenced Roseobacter genomes. The prevailing pattern of Roseobacter gene expression showed depletion of DMSP-related transcripts during the peak of the bloom, despite the fact that absolute concentrations and flux of DMSP-related compounds were increasing. A likely interpretation is that DMSPd was assimilated by Roseobacter populations in proportion to its relative abundance in the organic matter pool (the “relative sense” hypothesis), and that it is not taken up in preference to other sources of labile organic sulfur or carbon produced during the bloom. The relative investment of the Roseobacter community in DMSP demethylation did not predict the fractional conversion of DMSP to DMS, however, suggesting a complex regulatory process that may involve multiple fates of DMSPd.