Project description:Gene expression level of Clostridioides difficile (C. difficile) strain R20291 comparing control C. difficile carring pMTL84151 as vector plasmid with C. difficile conjugated with a pMTL84151-03890 gene. Goal was to determine the effects of 03890 gene conjugation on C. difficile strain R20291 gene expression.
Project description:RNA-seq was conducted to uncover the regulatory roles of RsbW in the lifestyle of Clostridioides difficile strain R20291. RNA were extracted from planktonic cultures, which were grown in BHI-S (Sigma-Aldrich, USA) to early stationary phase (10h). The cells were re-suspended in LETS buffer and lysed using Fast-prep 24 instrument (MP Bioscience) and RNA was extracted using 1 ml Trizol (Ambion, USA). Samples were cleaned and sequenced by Novogene Company Limited, PE150 with approximately 10 million reads per sample. After QC, reads were aligned to R20291 (NC_013316.1) with Bowtie2 and readcounts were generated with Samtools and Bedtools. Differential gene expression analysis was conducted with DESeq2 with a p-value of 0.05, differential gene expression was determined with ± -2 logFC.
Project description:Clostridioides difficile, the leading cause of antibiotic-associated diarrhoea worldwide, is a genetically diverse species which can metabolise a number of nutrient sources upon colonising a dysbiotic gut environment. Trehalose, a disaccharide sugar consisting of two glucose molecules bonded by an α 1,1-glycosidic bond, has been hypothesised to be involved in the emergence of C. difficile hypervirulence due to its increased utilisation by the RT027 and RT078 strains. Using RNA-sequencing analysis, we report the identification of a putative trehalose metabolism pathway which is induced during growth in trehalose: this has not been previously described within the C. difficile species. These data demonstrate the metabolic diversity exhibited by C. difficile which warrants further investigation to elucidate the molecular basis of trehalose metabolism within this important gut pathogen.
Project description:The intestines house a diverse microbiota that must compete for nutrients to survive, but the specific limiting nutrients that control pathogen colonization are not clearly defined. Clostridioides difficile colonization typically requires prior disruption of the microbiota, suggesting that outcompeting commensals for resources is key in establishing C. difficile infection (CDI). The immune protein calprotectin (CP) is released into the gut lumen during CDI to chelate zinc (Zn) and other essential nutrient metals. Yet, the impact of Zn limitation on C. difficile colonization is unknown. To define C. difficile responses to Zn limitation, we performed RNA sequencing on C. difficile exposed to CP. In media with CP, C. difficile upregulated genes involved in metal homeostasis and amino acid metabolism.
Project description:Clostridioides difficile interactions with the gut mucosa are crucial for colonisation and establishment of infection, however key infection events during the establishment of disease are still poorly defined. To better understand the initial events that occur during C. difficile colonisation, we employed a dual RNA-sequencing approach to study the host and bacterial transcriptomic profiles during C. difficile infection in a dual-environment in vitro human gut model. Temporal changes in gene expression were analysed over 3-24h post infection and comparisons were made with uninfected controls.
Project description:Purpose: to determine the differentially expressed genes in the phase-variable rough and smooth colony isolates of C. difficile Methods: C. difficile R20291 was grown on BHIS agar to obtain distinct colonies. Individual rough and smooth colonies were chosen for propagation on BHIS-agar for 24 hours as described in Garrett, et al., PLoS Biology, 2019. Growth was collected from n = 2 biological replicates. RNA was purified using TriSure and chloroform, beadbeating, and isopropanol/ethanol precipitation. Quality was verified with Bioanalyzer Assay. Samples were submitted to Genewiz for depletion of rRNA using the TruSeq RiboZero Gold Kit, library preparation, and single-end sequencing on the Illumina HiSeq 2500 platform. RNA sequencing analysis was done using CLC Genomic Workbench v20. Reads were mapped to C. difficile R20291 genome using the software's default menalties for mismatch, deletion, and insertion differences from the reference genome. Transcript reads were normalized as RPKM. Results: 88 genes were differentially expressed between bacteria from rough versus smooth colonies, with equal to or greater than a 2-fold change and p < 0.05 with FDR correction.
