Project description:Every cyanobacterial species contains gene encoding site-2-protease (S2P) homolog. The studied prokaryotic S2P homologs play essential roles in regulating stress response through intramembrane proteolysis of membrane-bound anti-sigma factors. Here, gene of Slr0643, one of four S2P homologs in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803, was insertionally disrupted to explore its physiological role. Only a partially segregated mutant was obtained, indicating its indispensability for growth. The partially disrupted mutant could not grow at pH 6.5, while wild type acclimated to pH 6.5 quickly. The slr0643 gene expression was transiently induced after pH transfer from 7.5 to 6.5. Both evidences demonstrated the pivotal role of fully functional Slr0643 in acid acclimation. DNA microarray and quantitative RT-PCR analyses decoded genes involved in early acid acclimation and revealed differentially expressed genes due to slr0643 disruption at both pH conditions. Early acid acclimation to pH 6.5 included upregulation of sigH, hik16 and hik35, and downregulation of pcrR and sigG; as well as downregulation of porins and upregulation of inorganic carbon and nitrogen transporters. Defective photosynthesis and excess expression of NADH dehydrogenase, together with over upregulation of carbon transporter and repression of nitrogen transporter and metabolism gene contributed to the acid lethality of mutant at pH 6.5. Most interestingly, analysis of microarray data revealed the close relationship between slr0643 disruption and expression of sigH operon. Therefore it was implied that Slr0643/Sll0857/SigH might acts through S2P/anti-Sigma factor/Sigma factor mechanism to play a role in acid acclimation.
Project description:Every cyanobacterial species contains gene encoding site-2-protease (S2P) homolog. The studied prokaryotic S2P homologs play essential roles in regulating stress response through intramembrane proteolysis of membrane-bound anti-sigma factors. Here, gene of Slr0643, one of four S2P homologs in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803, was insertionally disrupted to explore its physiological role. Only a partially segregated mutant was obtained, indicating its indispensability for growth. The partially disrupted mutant could not grow at pH 6.5, while wild type acclimated to pH 6.5 quickly. The slr0643 gene expression was transiently induced after pH transfer from 7.5 to 6.5. Both evidences demonstrated the pivotal role of fully functional Slr0643 in acid acclimation. DNA microarray and quantitative RT-PCR analyses decoded genes involved in early acid acclimation and revealed differentially expressed genes due to slr0643 disruption at both pH conditions. Early acid acclimation to pH 6.5 included upregulation of sigH, hik16 and hik35, and downregulation of pcrR and sigG; as well as downregulation of porins and upregulation of inorganic carbon and nitrogen transporters. Defective photosynthesis and excess expression of NADH dehydrogenase, together with over upregulation of carbon transporter and repression of nitrogen transporter and metabolism gene contributed to the acid lethality of mutant at pH 6.5. Most interestingly, analysis of microarray data revealed the close relationship between slr0643 disruption and expression of sigH operon. Therefore it was implied that Slr0643/Sll0857/SigH might acts through S2P/anti-Sigma factor/Sigma factor mechanism to play a role in acid acclimation. M-bM-^@M-^C Loop design was used to compare differential expression of wild type and mutant at pH 7.5 and pH 6.5 respectively, including dye-swape. Biological variation was sampled by extracting RNA from three independent experiments and pooling them together before hybridizations. Two or four replicate chips for each comparison and two replicate printings per chip represent technical repeats.
Project description:To investigate acclimation mechanisms employed under extreme high light conditions, gene expression analysis was performed using the model microalgae Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 (PCC 6803) cultured under various light intensities. From the low to the mid light conditions, the expression of genes related to light harvesting systems was repressed, whereas that of CO2 fixation and of D1 protein turnover-related genes was induced. Gene expression data also revealed that the down-regulation of genes related to flagellum synthesis (pilA2), pyridine nucleotide transhydrogenase (pntA and pntB), and sigma factor (sigA and sigF) represents acclimation mechanisms of PCC 6803 under excessive high light conditions.
Project description:Like many other organisms, cyanobacteria exhibit rhythmic gene expression with a period length of 24 hours to adapt to daily environmental changes. In the model organism Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942 the central oscillator consists of three proteins: KaiA, KaiB and KaiC and utilizes the histidine kinase SasA and its response regulator RpaA as output-signaling pathway. Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 contains two additional homologs of the kaiB and kaiC genes. Here we demonstrate that RpaA interacts with the core oscillator KaiAB1C1 of Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 via SasA, similar to Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942. However, interaction with the additional Kai homologs was not detected, suggesting different signal transduction components for the clock homologs. Inactivation of rpaA in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803, lead to reduced viability of the mutant in light-dark cycles that aggravated under mixotrophic growth conditions. Chemoheterotrophic growth in the dark was abolished completely. In accordance, transcriptomic data revealed that RpaA is involved in the regulation of genes related to CO2‑acclimation and carbon metabolism under diurnal light conditions. Further, our results indicate that RpaA functions in the posttranslational regulation of glycogen metabolism as well, and a potential link between the circadian clock and motility was identified.
Project description:The model cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 was used for a systematic survey of differential expression with a focus on antisense (as)RNAs and non-coding (nc)RNAs. A microarray was constucted with on average 5 probes for each transcript known thus far, including ncRNAs and asRNAs. The resulting 20,431 individual probes are duplicated on the array (Agilent 4x44k custom array) representing a technical replicate. Hybridization of this array with total RNA isolated from cultures raised under different growth conditions identified transcripts from intergenic spacers and in antisense orientation to known genes (natural cis-asRNAs) with differential expression compared to control hybridizations. This shows the involvement of such transcripts in the regulation of adaptation to various stresses. 12 RNA hybridizations (1 control & 3 stress conditions, 3 times each)
Project description:Regulation of gene expression is a sophisticated process leading to the activation or suppression of genes due to adaptation to environmental stimuli. The membrane-embedded FtsH proteases conserved in bacteria, chloroplasts and mitochondria, are involved in such regulation. The genome of the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 encodes four FtsH homologues FtsH1-4, functioning in the form of oligomeric complexes. Homologue FtsH3 is bound in two hetero-oligomeric complexes, FtsH1/FstH3 and/or FtsH2/FtsH3, respectively. Previous data showed that the FtsH1/FtsH3 complex is involved in the acclimation of cells to iron deficiency by controlling the availability of the transcriptional regulator Fur (Sll0567). To gain more comprehensive insight into the physiological role of FtsH hetero-complexes, we carried out genome-wide expression profiling of a mutant conditionally depleted in FtsH3, grown under nutrient sufficiency and iron depletion. Our results show, that besides Fur, also the SufR and Pho regulons belong to the set of genes controlled by FtsH. Moreover, by combining the transcriptome data with in silico prediction we identified novel targets of Fur in Synechocystis PCC 6803. Fur tends to evoke mostly repression, but also appears to activate some target genes. We monitored the global gene expression in a conditional Synechocystis PCC6083 ftsH knockdown strain (FtsHdown) (Boehm et al., 2012) and a control strain (WT) at standard conditions and at iron depletion. The presence of ammonia to induced the conditional knockdown. Each sample was done in biological replicates.