Project description:This work reports on the identification and molecular characterization of a two-component regulatory system (2CRS), encoded by phoRP in Bifidobacterium breve UCC2003, which controls the response to phosphate (Pi) starvation. The response regulator PhoP was shown to bind to the promoter region of pstSCAB, specifying a predicted Pi transporter system, as well as that of phoU, which specifies a putative Pi-responsive regulatory protein. This interaction is assumed to cause transcriptional activation under conditions of Pi limitation. The phoRP genes appear to be subject to positive auto-regulation, and with pstSCAB and phoU, represent the complete regulon controlled by the phoRP-encoded 2CRS in B. breve UCC2003. Determination of the minimal PhoP binding region combined with bioinformatic analysis revealed the probable recognition sequence of PhoP, designated here as the PHO box, which together with phoRP is conserved among many high GC-content Gram+ bacteria. The importance of the phoRP 2CRS in the response of B. breve to Pi starvation conditions was confirmed by generating a B. breve::phoP insertion mutant which exhibited decreased growth under phosphate-limiting conditions as compared to its parent strain UCC2003. In order to investigate differences in global gene expression upon growth of B. breve UCC2003 under low phosphate conditions compared to normal growing cells, DNA microarray experiments were performed in CDM. Total RNA was isolated from B. breve UCC2003 cultures under normal conditions and cultures grown under low phosphate conditions. Starvation experiments with wildtype and overexpression strains were performed in triplicate, while knockout array experiments where performed as single experiments and targets were confirmed with QRT-PCR.
Project description:This work reports on the identification and molecular characterization of a two-component regulatory system (2CRS), encoded by phoRP in Bifidobacterium breve UCC2003, which controls the response to phosphate (Pi) starvation. The response regulator PhoP was shown to bind to the promoter region of pstSCAB, specifying a predicted Pi transporter system, as well as that of phoU, which specifies a putative Pi-responsive regulatory protein. This interaction is assumed to cause transcriptional activation under conditions of Pi limitation. The phoRP genes appear to be subject to positive auto-regulation, and with pstSCAB and phoU, represent the complete regulon controlled by the phoRP-encoded 2CRS in B. breve UCC2003. Determination of the minimal PhoP binding region combined with bioinformatic analysis revealed the probable recognition sequence of PhoP, designated here as the PHO box, which together with phoRP is conserved among many high GC-content Gram+ bacteria. The importance of the phoRP 2CRS in the response of B. breve to Pi starvation conditions was confirmed by generating a B. breve::phoP insertion mutant which exhibited decreased growth under phosphate-limiting conditions as compared to its parent strain UCC2003.
Project description:The transcription of the cldEFGC gene cluster of Bifidobacterium breve UCC2003 was shown to be induced upon growth on cellodextrins, implicating these genes in the metabolism of these sugars. Phenotypic analysis of a B. breve UCC2003::cldE insertion mutant confirmed that the cld gene cluster is exclusively required for cellodextrin utilization by this bacterium. HPAEC-PAD analysis of medium samples obtained during growth of B. breve UCC2003 on a mixture of cellodextrins revealed its ability to utilize cellobiose, cellotriose, cellotetraose and cellopentaose, with cellotriose representing the preferred substrate. The cldC gene of the cld operon of B. breve UCC2003 was shown to be the first described bifidobacterial β-glucosidase exhibiting hydrolytic activity towards various cellodextrins.
Project description:The transcription of the cldEFGC gene cluster of Bifidobacterium breve UCC2003 was shown to be induced upon growth on cellodextrins, implicating these genes in the metabolism of these sugars. Phenotypic analysis of a B. breve UCC2003::cldE insertion mutant confirmed that the cld gene cluster is exclusively required for cellodextrin utilization by this bacterium. HPAEC-PAD analysis of medium samples obtained during growth of B. breve UCC2003 on a mixture of cellodextrins revealed its ability to utilize cellobiose, cellotriose, cellotetraose and cellopentaose, with cellotriose representing the preferred substrate. The cldC gene of the cld operon of B. breve UCC2003 was shown to be the first described bifidobacterial β-glucosidase exhibiting hydrolytic activity towards various cellodextrins. In order to investigate differences in gene expression patterns of B. breve UCC2003 when grown on cellobiose or cellodextrins as compared to growth on glucose, DNA microarray experiments were performed. Total RNA was isolated from B. breve UCC2003 cultures grown on cellobiose, cellodextrins, or glucose (see Materials and Methods). The cultures were harvested at the time points that ensured that B. breve UCC2003 was metabolizing cellobiose or cellodextrins as opposed to the residual glucose present in the cellodextrin preparation. Analysis of the DNA microarray data was obtained from two independent biological replicates.
Project description:Bifidobacterium are considered to be beneficial for human health and are classified as probiotic bacterium. They must resist many environmental stress factors in order to survive in the gastrointestinal environment including; pH, oxygen availability, bile and nutrient starvation (eg: iron or carbon). This study investigates Bifidobacterium breve UCC2003 global genome response to growth under ferrous and/or ferric iron limiting conditions. Revealing that growth under iron limitation effects many processes in the cell including carbon and nitrogen metabolism and induces/reduces the expression of numerous genes; including multiple iron uptake systems, DPS proteins (which are predicted to be involved in iron storage/DNA protection), Fe-S cluster associated proteins and a bile salt hydrolase (bshB). Insertional mutagenesis and survival assays were employed and demonstrated that iron starvation imposed on B. breve UCC2003 results in an increased resistance to bile stress due to in part the iron-inducible transcription of the bshB gene. Furthermore, this study links BSH activity in B. breve UCC2003 to its ability to survive the deleterious effects of bile salt and suggest that B. breve UCC2003 may be use iron as a signal to adapt to the constantly changing environment within the small intestine.
Project description:Phenotypic screening of a random mutant library combined with microarray analysis of the transcriptional response of B. breve UCC2003 to iron limitation, allowed the identification of a number of genes implicated in the survival of Bifidbacterium breve UCC2003 under iron-limiting conditions. Of the identified genes, two putative iron-uptake systems, were further characterised: (i) a presumed ferrous iron uptake system, designated here as bfeUO, and (ii) a predicted ferric iron/siderophore uptake system, designated sifABCDE. In silico analysis also illustrated that these two clusters are highly conserved across members of the genus Bifidobacterium and are invariably co-located. Murine colonization studies demonstrated that B. breve UCC2003-bfeU and B. breve UCC2003-sifA insertion mutants are able to colonize a healthy murine gut as efficiently as the wild type B. breve strain, indicating that these genes are not crucial for gut survival or colonization in a healthy host.
Project description:Growth of B. breve UCC2003 on ribose leads to the transcriptional induction of the rbsACBDK gene cluster. Generation and phenotypic analysis of an rbsA insertion mutant established that the rbs gene cluster is essential for ribose utilization, and that its transcription is likely regulated by a LacI-type regulator encoded by rbsR, located immediately upstream of rbsA. Gel mobility shift assays using purified RbsRHis indicate that the promoter upstream of rbsABCDK is negatively controlled by RbsRHis binding to an 18-bp inverted repeat and that RbsRHis binding activity is modulated by D-ribose. The rbsK gene of the rbs operon of B. breve UCC2003 was shown to specify a ribokinase (EC 2.7.1.15), which specifically directs its phosphorylating activity towards D-ribose, converting this pentose sugar to ribose-5-phosphate. In order to investigate differences in global gene expression upon growth of B. breve UCC2003 on ribose, or a combination of ribose and glucose, as compared to glucose, DNA microarray experiments were performed. Total RNA was isolated from B. breve UCC2003 cultures grown on ribose, a combination of ribose and glucose, or glucose. All experiments were performed in duplicate. A dye swap was performed in one of the two biological replicates.
Project description:In this study, we describe the functional characterisation of the B. breve UCC2003 gal locus, which is dedicated to the utilisation of galactan, a plant-derived polysaccharide. Using a combination of molecular approaches we conclude that the galA gene of B. breve UCC2003 encodes a beta-1,4-endogalactanase producing galacto-oligosaccharides, which are specifically internalised by an ABC transport system, encoded by galBCDE, and which are then hydrolysed to galactose moieties by a dedicated intracellular beta-galactosidase, specified by galG. The generated galactose molecules are presumed to be fed into the fructose-6-phosphate phosphoketolase pathway via the Leloir pathway, thereby allowing B. breve UCC2003 to use galactan as its sole carbon and energy source. In addition to these findings we demonstrate that GalR is a LacI-type DNA-binding protein, which not only appears to control transcription of the galCDEGR operon, but also that of the galA gene.
Project description:Growth of B. breve UCC2003 on ribose leads to the transcriptional induction of the rbsACBDK gene cluster. Generation and phenotypic analysis of an rbsA insertion mutant established that the rbs gene cluster is essential for ribose utilization, and that its transcription is likely regulated by a LacI-type regulator encoded by rbsR, located immediately upstream of rbsA. Gel mobility shift assays using purified RbsRHis indicate that the promoter upstream of rbsABCDK is negatively controlled by RbsRHis binding to an 18-bp inverted repeat and that RbsRHis binding activity is modulated by D-ribose. The rbsK gene of the rbs operon of B. breve UCC2003 was shown to specify a ribokinase (EC 2.7.1.15), which specifically directs its phosphorylating activity towards D-ribose, converting this pentose sugar to ribose-5-phosphate.
Project description:This work reports on the identification and molecular characterization of a two-component regulatory system (2CRS), encoded by serRK, which is believed to control the expression of the ser2003 locus in Bifidobacterium breve UCC2003. The ser2003 locus consists of two genes, Bbr_1319 (sagA) and Bbr_1320 (serU), which are predicted to encode a hypothetical membrane-associated protein and a serpin-like protein, respectively. The response regulator SerR was shown to bind to the promoter region of ser2003 and the probable recognition sequence of SerR was determined by a combinatorial approach of in vitro site-directed mutagenesis, coupled to transcriptional fusion and EMSA assays. The importance of the serRK 2CRS in the response of B. breve to protease-mediated induction was confirmed by generating B. breve-s-serR and B. breve-::serU insertion mutants, which exhibited altered ser2003 transcriptional induction patterns as compared to their parent strain UCC2003.