Project description:Polyamines, such as putrescine and spermidine, are aliphatic organic compounds with multiple amino groups. They are found ubiquitously in marine systems. However, compared with the extensive studies on the concentration and fate of other dissolved organic nitrogen compounds in seawater, such as dissolved free amino acids (DFAA), investigations of bacterially-mediated polyamine transformations have been rare. Bioinformatic analysis identified genes encoding polyamine transporters in 74 of 109 marine bacterial genomes surveyed, a surprising frequency for a class of organic nitrogen compounds not generally recognized as an important source of carbon and nitrogen for marine bacterioplankton. The genome sequence of marine model bacterium Silicibacter pomeroyi DSS-3 contains a number of genes putatively involved in polyamine use, including six four-gene ATP-binding cassette transport systems. In the present study, polyamine uptake and metabolism by S. pomeroyi was examined to confirm the role of putative polyamine-related genes, and to investigate how well current gene annotations reflect function. A comparative whole-genome microarray approach (Bürgmann et al., 2007) allowed us to identify key genes for transport and metabolism of spermidine in this bacterium, and specify candidate genes for in situ monitoring of polyamine transformations in marine bacterioplankton communities.
Project description:Polyamines, such as putrescine and spermidine, are aliphatic organic compounds with multiple amino groups. They are found ubiquitously in marine systems. However, compared with the extensive studies on the concentration and fate of other dissolved organic nitrogen compounds in seawater, such as dissolved free amino acids (DFAA), investigations of bacterially-mediated polyamine transformations have been rare. Bioinformatic analysis identified genes encoding polyamine transporters in 74 of 109 marine bacterial genomes surveyed, a surprising frequency for a class of organic nitrogen compounds not generally recognized as an important source of carbon and nitrogen for marine bacterioplankton. The genome sequence of marine model bacterium Silicibacter pomeroyi DSS-3 contains a number of genes putatively involved in polyamine use, including six four-gene ATP-binding cassette transport systems. In the present study, polyamine uptake and metabolism by S. pomeroyi was examined to confirm the role of putative polyamine-related genes, and to investigate how well current gene annotations reflect function. A comparative whole-genome microarray approach (Bürgmann et al., 2007) allowed us to identify key genes for transport and metabolism of spermidine in this bacterium, and specify candidate genes for in situ monitoring of polyamine transformations in marine bacterioplankton communities. Silicibacter pomeroyi DSS-3 cells were grown in chemostat in a modified marine basal medium (MBM) containing spermidine as sole carbon and nitrogen source. Serine was used as a substrate to provide comparative data for an amino acid. After reach stable condition, total RNA were extracted, mRNA were purified and aa-aRNA were amplified and fluoresently labled before hybridize on array chips. The array design is described in Burgmann et al., 2007
Project description:Dimethylsufoniopropionate (DMSP) is an important and abundant organic sulfur compound and an important substrate for marine bacterioplankton. The Roseobacter clade of marine alpha-proteobacteria, including Silicibacter pomeroyi strain DSS3, are known to be a key phylogenetic group involved in DMSP degradaton. The fate of DMSP has important implications for the global sulfur cycle, but the genes involved in this process and their regulation are largely unknown. S. pomeroyi is capable of performing two major pathways of DMSP degradation, making it an interesting model organism. Based on the full genome sequence of this strain we designed an oligonucleotide-based microarray for the detection of transcripts of nearly all genes. The array was used to study the transcriptional response of S. pomeroyi cultures to additions of DMSP or Acetate in a time series experiment. We identified a number of DMSP-upregulated genes that could be assigned to potential roles in the metabolization of DMSP. DMSP also affected the transcription of other groups of genes, including genes for transport and metabolization of peptides, amino-acids and polyamines. High DMSP concentrations may be a chemical signal indicating phytoplankton abundance and elicit a regulatory response aimed at making maximum use of the available nutrients under these conditions. Keywords: Microarray, marine bacterium, messenger RNA, transcription, sulfur metabolism
Project description:Dimethylsufoniopropionate (DMSP) is an important and abundant organic sulfur compound and an important substrate for marine bacterioplankton. The Roseobacter clade of marine alpha-proteobacteria, including Silicibacter pomeroyi strain DSS3, are known to be a key phylogenetic group involved in DMSP degradaton. The fate of DMSP has important implications for the global sulfur cycle, but the genes involved in this process and their regulation are largely unknown. S. pomeroyi is capable of performing two major pathways of DMSP degradation, making it an interesting model organism. Based on the full genome sequence of this strain we designed an oligonucleotide-based microarray for the detection of transcripts of nearly all genes. The array was used to study the transcriptional response of S. pomeroyi cultures to additions of DMSP or Acetate in a time series experiment. We identified a number of DMSP-upregulated genes that could be assigned to potential roles in the metabolization of DMSP. DMSP also affected the transcription of other groups of genes, including genes for transport and metabolization of peptides, amino-acids and polyamines. High DMSP concentrations may be a chemical signal indicating phytoplankton abundance and elicit a regulatory response aimed at making maximum use of the available nutrients under these conditions. Keywords: Microarray, marine bacterium, messenger RNA, transcription, sulfur metabolism The array design is based on the complete genome sequence of S. pomeroyi strain DSS 3 and available from Genbank (Accession numbers CP000031 and CP000032). Probes for all identified potential genes were designed by Combimatrix using proprietary software. A total of 4161 genes out of the 4348 identified potential genes on the S. pomeroyi genome are represented on the array. When possible, two probes per gene were designed.
Project description:The ubiquitous heterotrophic marine bacterium, Rugeria pomeroyi, was experimentally cultured under both environmentally realistic carbon conditions and with a tracer-level addition of 13C-labeled leucine. Bacterial protein biosynthesis was tracked through exponential and stationary growth phases. This combination of methods allowed for observation of real-time bacterial protein production of an environmentally relevant marine bacterium under low-carbon conditions to understand metabolic priorities during different growth phases.
Project description:In oligotrophic ocean waters where bacteria are often subjected to chronic nutrient limitation, community transcriptome sequencing has pointed to the presence of highly abundant small RNAs (sRNAs). The role of sRNAs in regulating response to nutrient stress was investigated in a model heterotrophic marine bacterium Ruegeria pomeroyi grown in continuous culture under carbon and nitrogen limitation. RNAseq analysis identified 98 sRNAs, of which 69 were cis-encoded and located antisense to their target genes, and 30 were trans-encoded and linked to predicted target genes through complementarity analysis. The most prevalent functional roles of target genes were transport, cell-cell interactions, signal transduction, and transcriptional regulation. Thirty-two percent of the sRNAs had been identified in a previous study of R. pomeroyi growth on organic sulfur compounds, and may be constitutively expressed, while 69% were not identified in previous studies. Eighty-six percent and were transcribed equally under both carbon and nutrient limitation, and may be involved in a general stress response; 14% were differentially regulated under carbon versus nitrogen stress, and may respond to specific nutrient limitations. A network analysis of the predicted target genes of the R. pomeroyi sRNAs indicated that they average fewer connections than typical protein-encoding genes, and appear to be more important in peripheral or niche-defining functions encoded in the pan genome rather than central metabolism encoded in the core genome.
Project description:We used the previously designed oligonucleotide-based microarray (Burgmann et al. Environmental Microbiology 2007, 9: 2742-2755) to detect the transcripts of R. pomeroyi DSS-3 genes when the cells were cultured under steady-state carbon (glucose), nitrogen (ammonium), phosphorus (phosphate), or sulfur (sulfate) limitation.
Project description:We used the previously designed oligonucleotide-based microarray (Burgmann et al. Environmental Microbiology 2007, 9: 2742-2755) to detect the transcripts of R. pomeroyi DSS-3 genes when the cells were cultured under steady-state carbon (glucose), nitrogen (ammonium), phosphorus (phosphate), or sulfur (sulfate) limitation. A total of 14 mRNA samples were hybridized to the arrays (three biological replicates from glucose, ammonium, phosphate, or sulfate limitation and one technical replicate each for ammonium or sulfate limitation)
Project description:The goal of this project was to identify bacterial transporters responsible for uptake of environmentally relevant marine metabolites. We used the model marine heterotrophic bacterium Ruegeria pomeroyi DSS-3, for which an arrayed library of single gene knockout mutants has been generated by selecting isolated from a barcoded transposon mutant library (BasSeq). Knockout mutants of putative transporters were grown on minimal medium with a single substrate as sole carbon source. Mutant defect was assessed by comparing the substrate drawdown of isolated mutants to drawdown by a pooled mutant library (BarSeq), a proxy for wildtype fitness.