Project description:In this study wild-type, fur mutant, and complemented fur mutant strains of the human pathogen Neisseria gonorrhoeae F62 were grown under high (100 uM iron) or low (100 uM desferal) iron conditions to identify genes whose expression was regulated by iron and/or Fur. This study looked at the response 3 hours after the addition of iron or desferal.
Project description:Naturally occurring mtrR mutants of gonococci displaying clinically relevant levels of antibiotic resistance are often isolated from patients and mtrR mutants have been reported to be more fit than the wild type parent strain in a murine vaginal infection model. DNA-binding proteins, such as MtrR, that negatively regulate bacterial efflux pump genes have been considered to be “local” gene regulators, although there is increasing evidence that they can directly or indirectly influence expression of other genes. To define the regulatory properties of MtrR we employed microarray analysis of isogenic MtrR-positive and MtrR-negative gonococci. Keywords: single time point
Project description:The overall goals and objectives of this study are to investigate the transcriptomics of Neisseria gonorrhoeae using RNA-seq. This work will look at gene expression, start points of transcription, transcriptional termination, and differences between these in different conditions and between strains and growing cultures over time.
Project description:Whole transcriptome analysis of N. gonorrhoeae FA19 and isogenic NGEG_00293 (misR) mutant using RNA-Seq (note that NGO0177 is the misR ORF designation in mapping strain FA1090)
Project description:Neisseria gonorrhoeae, the etiologic agent of gonorrhea, is frequently asymptomatic in women, often leading to chronic infections. One factor contributing to this may be biofilm formation. N. gonorrhoeae can form biofilms over glass and plastic surfaces. There is also evidence that biofilm formation may occur during natural cervical infection. To further study the mechanism of this biofilm formation, transcriptional profiles of N. gonorrhoeae biofilm were compared to planktonic profiles. Biofilm RNA was extracted from N. gonorrhoeae 1291 grown for 48 hours in continuous flow chambers over glass. Planktonic RNA was extracted from the biofilm runoff. When biofilm was compared to planktonic growth, 3.8 % of the genome was differentially regulated. Genes highly up-regulated in biofilm included aniA, norB, and ccp, which play critical roles in anaerobic metabolism and oxidative stress tolerance. Down-regulated genes included the nuo gene cluster (NADH dehydrogenase) and the cytochrome bcI complex, which are involved in aerobic respiration and are thought to contribute to endogenous oxidative stress. Furthermore, we determined that aniA, ccp, and norB insertional mutants are attenuated for biofilm formation over glass and transformed human cervical epithelial cells (THCEC). This data suggests that biofilm formation could minimize oxidative stress during cervical infection and allow N. gonorrhoeae to maintain a nitric oxide steady state that may be anti-inflammatory.