Project description:Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) lung infection is a significant cause of mortality in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). Most CF patients acquire unique P. aeruginosa strains from the environment; however clonal strains have been identified in CF communities in several countries. Two clonal strains infect 10% to 40% of patients in three CF clinics in mainland eastern Australia. The expression profiles of four planktonically-grown isolates of one Australian clonal strain (AES-2), and four non–clonal CF P. aeruginosa isolates were compared to each other and to the reference strain PAO1 using the Affymetrix P. aeruginosa PAO1 genome array, to gain insight into properties mediating the enhanced infectivity of AES-1. The isolates were subsequently grown as 3-day old biofilms and similarly extracted for RNA and compared as above. Data analysis was carried out using BIOCONDUCTOR software. Keywords: Comparative strain hybridization
Project description:Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) lung infection is a significant cause of mortality in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). Most CF patients acquire unique P. aeruginosa strains from the environment; however clonal strains have been identified in CF communities in several countries. Two clonal strains infect 10% to 40% of patients in three CF clinics in mainland eastern Australia. The expression profiles of four planktonically-grown isolates of one Australian clonal strain (AES-1), and four non–clonal CF P. aeruginosa isolates were compared to each other and to the reference strain PAO1 using the Affymetrix P. aeruginosa PAO1 genome array, to gain insight into properties mediating the enhanced infectivity of AES-1. The isolates were subsequently grown as 3-day old biofilms and similarly extracted for RNA and compared as above. Data analysis was carried out using BIOCONDUCTOR software. Keywords: Comparative strain hybridization
Project description:The opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa is among the main colonizers of the lungs of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients. We have isolated and sequenced several P. aeruginosa isolates from the sputum of CF patients and used phenotypic, genomic and proteomic analyses to compare these CF derived strains with each other and with the model strain PAO1.
Project description:The biodegradation of lignite (brown coal) by microorganisms has the potential for bioremediation of contaminated mining sites and to generate alternative ways to valorize lignite, such as by producing humic acids or building block chemicals. Previously, a lignite-degrading strain of Trichoderma was isolated, but the genomic and transcriptomic basis of its lignite-degrading ability remained unknown. Here we report that the sequenced genome of the T. cf. simile WF8 strain encoded for enzymes with roles in the degradation of lignite, and potentially tolerance to lignite-breakdown products. There was only a small number of annotated unique genes in the T. cf. simile WF8 genome compared to other fungi, and likely the expression of gene families shared with other fungi is a key factor in lignite biosolubilization by T. cf. simile. The transcriptomes were analyzed of T. cf. simile cultured at two time-points with the lignite-breakdown model compounds 4-phenoxybenzoic acid (which was growth inhibitory), and phenetole and 9-10-dibutoxyanthracene (neither of which inhibited growth), and showed ~20% of genes up-regulated by one or more of these compounds. The analysis highlights candidates for characterization and engineering enzyme over-expressing T. cf. simile strains with potentially improved degradation capacity, e.g., laccases and peroxidases, or tolerance and catabolism of breakdown products, e.g., cytochrome P450s, and ring cleavage dioxygenases. Published in International Biodeterioration & Biodegradation (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ibiod.2025.105997)
Project description:Surfing motility is a complex adaptation that is different from swarming motility and requires the stringent stress response in Pseudomonas aeruginosa LESB58 Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a genetic disease that affects mucin-producing body organs such as the lungs. Characteristic of CF is the production of thick and sticky mucus that can lead to progressive airway obstruction. The glycoprotein mucin is the major macromolecular component of mucus. Recently, we identified that the presence of mucin induced a rapid surface adaptation termed surfing motility in motile bacteria. P. aeruginosa, the main colonizing pathogen in CF employs several stress coping mechanisms to survive the highly viscous environment of the CF lung. Here, RNA-Seq was used to study the stringent stress response in the hypervirulent CF isolate LESB58 (Liverpool Epidemic Strain) via transcriptional profiling. As the stringent response is regulated by relA and spoT, we created a double knockout of these genes in LESB58 to study the impact of these stress regulators on surfing motility using RNA-Seq.
Project description:Previous work characterized TrmB as a global glucose responsive metabolic transcription factor in archaeal extremophiles. However, it remains unclear how TrmB dynamically regulates its ~100 metabolic enzyme-coding genes. Using a dynamic perturbation approach, we elucidate the topology of the metabolic GRN in Halobacterium salinarum. We assayed gene expression in a wild-type and trmB knockout strain before and immedeatly following glucose perturbation. Clustering dynamic gene expression patterns reveals that TrmB functions alone to regulate central metabolic enzyme-coding genes, but cooperates with various regulators to control peripheral metabolic pathways.
Project description:We set out to determine a) if histone in Halobacterium salinarum regulates transcription and b) whether the magnitude and extent of these changes matches those observed in organisms which use histone protein as their primary DNA packaging agent. To this end, gene expression data for a histone knock-out (Δura3ΔhpyA) strain versus parent (Δura3) were collected.