Project description:Streptococcus gordonii, an important primary colonizer of dental plaque biofilm, specifically binds to salivary amylase via the surface-associated amylase-binding protein A (AbpA). We hypothesized that amylase binding to S. gordonii modulates expression of chromosomal genes, which could influence bacterial survival and persistence in the oral cavity. Gene expression profiling by microarray analysis was performed to detect differentially expressed genes in S. gordonii strain CH1 in response to the binding of purified human salivary amylase as compared to exposure to heat-denatured amylase. Selected genes found to be differentially expressed were validated by qRT-PCR. Five genes from the fatty acid synthesis (FAS) cluster were highly (10-35 fold) up-regulated in amylase treated S. gordonii CH1 cells compared to the denatured-amylase treated cells. An abpA-deficient strain of S. gordonii exposed to amylase did not show a similar response in FAS gene expression as observed in the parental strain. Predicted phenotypic effects of amylase binding to S. gordonii strain CH1 associated with increased expression of FAS genes leading to changes in fatty acid synthesis were noted, as evidenced by increased bacterial growth, survival at low pH, and resistance to triclosan. These changes were not observed in the amylase exposed abpA-deficient strain, suggesting for the role of AbpA in amylase-induced phenotype. These results provide evidence that the binding of salivary amylase elicits a differential gene response in S. gordonii, resulting in a phenotype adjustment that is potentially advantageous for bacterial survival in the oral environment.
Project description:Streptococcus gordonii, an important primary colonizer of dental plaque biofilm, specifically binds to salivary amylase via the surface-associated amylase-binding protein A (AbpA). We hypothesized that amylase binding to S. gordonii modulates expression of chromosomal genes, which could influence bacterial survival and persistence in the oral cavity. Gene expression profiling by microarray analysis was performed to detect differentially expressed genes in S. gordonii strain CH1 in response to the binding of purified human salivary amylase as compared to exposure to heat-denatured amylase. Selected genes found to be differentially expressed were validated by qRT-PCR. Five genes from the fatty acid synthesis (FAS) cluster were highly (10-35 fold) up-regulated in amylase treated S. gordonii CH1 cells compared to the denatured-amylase treated cells. An abpA-deficient strain of S. gordonii exposed to amylase did not show a similar response in FAS gene expression as observed in the parental strain. Predicted phenotypic effects of amylase binding to S. gordonii strain CH1 associated with increased expression of FAS genes leading to changes in fatty acid synthesis were noted, as evidenced by increased bacterial growth, survival at low pH, and resistance to triclosan. These changes were not observed in the amylase exposed abpA-deficient strain, suggesting for the role of AbpA in amylase-induced phenotype. These results provide evidence that the binding of salivary amylase elicits a differential gene response in S. gordonii, resulting in a phenotype adjustment that is potentially advantageous for bacterial survival in the oral environment. In order to identify amylase-regulated genes, S. gordonii CH1 was grown statically in 40 ml CDM at 37°C in a candle jar to mid-log phase corresponding to an optical density at 600 nm of 0.5 to 0.6.The mid-log phase bacterial culture was divided into two aliquots of equal volume. Bacterial cells from all aliquots were pelleted by centrifugation at 6,000 x g in a Sorvall RC6 centrifuge at 20°C, and washed once with simulated salivary buffer preconditioned to 37°C. Simulated salivary buffer containing 0.4 mg/ml purified, non-glycosylated salivary amylase (native amylase) and preconditioned to 37°C was added to the cells of the fist aliquot; to the cells of the second aliquot simulated salivary buffer containing 0.4 mg/ml of the same salivary amylase denatured by heating to 100°C {Heinen, 1976} and cooled to 37°C was added, as a negative control. Each aliquot, amylase treated and control, was incubated statically for 15 min at 37°C in a candle jar. Total RNA was immediately isolated by the hot acid phenol method as described previously {Vickerman, 2007}, followed by treatment with TurboDNase (Applied Biosystems/Ambion, Austin, TX) according to manufacturer’s protocol. Remaining contaminants were removed using the RNeasy minikit column (Qiagen, Valencia, CA) with the cleanup protocol. Total RNA was quantified using the Nanodrop 2000 spectrophotometer and RNA integrity determined by agarose gel electrophoresis. Total RNA was used immediately for cDNA synthesis. The Cy dye-labeled cDNA from the amylase-treated aliquot of the culture was mixed with Cy dye-labeled cDNA from the denatured amylase-treated control aliquot, and used to probe the S. gordonii microarray slides. Each amylase-exposure experiment was repeated from four biological replicates. To confirm microarray results the cDNA from each strain was labeled with the opposite Cy dye and hybridized to similar arrays for the flip-dye comparison. Overall design 4 samples were analyzed. The quality controls were 4 biological replicates and dye-swap technical replicates for each biological replicate.
Project description:All organisms throughout the tree of life sense and respond to their surface environments. To discriminate from among mucosal surface environmental cues, we grew Streptococcus gordonii biofilms over night at 37C on surfaces coated with the salivary mucin MUC5B, or a low density protein fraction derived from human saliva.
Project description:Recent studies have shown that the transcriptional landscape of the pleiomorphic fungus Candida albicans is highly dependent upon growth conditions. Here using a dual RNA-seq approach we identified 299 C. albicans and 72 Streptococcus gordonii genes that were either up- or down-regulated specifically as a result of co-culturing these human oral cavity microorganisms. Seventy five C. albicans genes involved in responses to chemical stimuli, regulation, homeostasis, protein modification and cell cycle were statistically (P ≤0.05) upregulated, while 36 genes mainly involved in transport and translation were down-regulated. Upregulation of filamentation-associated TEC1 and FGR42 genes, and of ALS1 adhesin gene, concurred with previous evidence that the C. albicans yeast to hypha transition is promoted by S. gordonii. Increased expression of genes required for arginine biosynthesis in C. albicans was potentially indicative of a novel oxidative stress response. The transcriptional response of S. gordonii to C. albicans was less dramatic, with only eight S. gordonii genes significantly (P ≤0.05) up-regulated ≥ twofold (glpK, rplO, celB, rplN, rplB, rpsE, ciaR, and gat). The expression patterns suggest that signals from S. gordonii cause a positive filamentation response in C. albicans, while S. gordonii appears to be transcriptionally less influenced by C. albicans. Five Samples; Sample 1 - Candida albicans cells grown in hypha inducing conditions for two hours; Sample 2 - Candida albicans cells grown in hypha-inducing conditions for two hours before co-culture with Streptococcus gordonii cells for one hour in a 2:1 rato; Sample 3 - Candida albicans cells grown in hypha-inducing conditions for two hours before culture in Streptococcus gordonii media for one hour; Sample 4 - Candida albicans cells grown in hypha inducing conditions for two hours, filtered to remove Candida albicans cells and media added to Streptococcus gordonii cells for one hour; Sample 5 - Streptococcus gordonii cells alone for one hour. All samples extracted and sequenced in biological triplicate using Illumina HiSeq2500. Samples 1, 2 and 3 aligned to the reference genome for Candida albicans and Samples 2, 4 and 5 aligned to the reference genome for Streptococcus gordonii.