Project description:The survival, pollutant degradation activity and transcriptome response was monitored in Sphingomonas sp. LH128 inoculated into soil. Cultivable cell numbers were determined by plating, while phenanthrene degradation was monitored by HPLC. The genetic base for the adaptive strategy of LH128 in soil was investigated by using microarray consisting 7,200 gene-coding ORFs. During 4 hours of incubation, 510 genes were differentially expressed (317 increased and 193 reduced expression) while 610 genes were differentially expressed (318 increased and 292 reduced) after 10 days of incubation. Genes with increased expression comprised of gene encoding PAH catabolic enzymes, stress resistance, oxidative stress tolerance, outer membrane proteins/porins and efflux pump proteins while the downregulated genes comprised of genes encoding flagellar biosynthesis, ribosomal proteins and ATPase. Transcriptomic response of phenanthrene degrading Sphingomonas sp. LH128 inoculated into phenanthrene contaminated soil after 4h and after 10 days of incubation was studied using genome-wide gene expression analysis. For this purpose, the strain was pregrown in minimal medium and inoculated at appropriated celld densitites. RNA was extracted both from soil and and from initial inoculum and cDNA was synthesized and labeled with Cy3. Transcriptomic response in soil of three replicates per conditions after both incubation duration were analyzed and compared with the initial inoculum
Project description:We analyzed the transcriptional response of the actinomycete Rhodococcus aetherivorans I24 to biphenyl and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). This species has not been extensively exposed to PCBs, as it was first isolated from a toluene contaminated aquifer, rather than a site contaminated with polychlorinated hydrocarbons. Using a microarray targeting 3524 genes, we assessed gene expression in minimal medium supplemented with various substrates (e.g. PCBs) and in both PCB-contaminated and non-contaminated sediment slurries. Relative to the reference condition (minimal medium supplemented with glucose), 408 genes were up-regulated in the various treatments. In medium and in sediment, PCBs elicited the up-regulation of a common set of 100 genes, including chaperones (groEL), a superoxide dismutase (sodA), alkyl hydroperoxide reductase protein C (ahpC), and a catalase/peroxidase (katG). Analysis of the R. aetherivorans I24 genome sequence identified orthologs of many of the genes in the canonical biphenyl pathway, but very few of these genes were up-regulated in response to PCBs or biphenyl. This study is one of the first which utilizes microarrays to assess the transcriptional response of a soil bacterium to a pollutant under conditions which more closely resemble the natural environment. Our results indicate that the transcriptional response of R. aetherivorans I24 to PCBs, in both medium and sediment, is primarily directed towards reducing oxidative stress, rather than catabolism. In addition, the identification of numerous genes expressed in contaminated soil specifically may have implications for the development of biosensors. Finally, comparative genomic and transcriptomic analyses suggest that the mere presence of orthologs of the required enzymes may not be sufficient to confer a vigorous biphenyl/PCB metabolism.
Project description:We analyzed the transcriptional response of the actinomycete Rhodococcus aetherivorans I24 to biphenyl and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). This species has not been extensively exposed to PCBs, as it was first isolated from a toluene contaminated aquifer, rather than a site contaminated with polychlorinated hydrocarbons. Using a microarray targeting 3524 genes, we assessed gene expression in minimal medium supplemented with various substrates (e.g. PCBs) and in both PCB-contaminated and non-contaminated sediment slurries. Relative to the reference condition (minimal medium supplemented with glucose), 408 genes were up-regulated in the various treatments. In medium and in sediment, PCBs elicited the up-regulation of a common set of 100 genes, including chaperones (groEL), a superoxide dismutase (sodA), alkyl hydroperoxide reductase protein C (ahpC), and a catalase/peroxidase (katG). Analysis of the R. aetherivorans I24 genome sequence identified orthologs of many of the genes in the canonical biphenyl pathway, but very few of these genes were up-regulated in response to PCBs or biphenyl. This study is one of the first which utilizes microarrays to assess the transcriptional response of a soil bacterium to a pollutant under conditions which more closely resemble the natural environment. Our results indicate that the transcriptional response of R. aetherivorans I24 to PCBs, in both medium and sediment, is primarily directed towards reducing oxidative stress, rather than catabolism. In addition, the identification of numerous genes expressed in contaminated soil specifically may have implications for the development of biosensors. Finally, comparative genomic and transcriptomic analyses suggest that the mere presence of orthologs of the required enzymes may not be sufficient to confer a vigorous biphenyl/PCB metabolism. RNA was isolated from cells incubated in the following: sediment from a PCB-contaminated industrial site, uncontaminated sediment from a comparable site, and defined media supplemented with glucose (3 g/L), glucose and biphenyl (3 g/L, 4.5 μM), or glucose and PCBs (3 g/L, 5 mg/L Aroclor 1254). In all cases, there were 3 biological replicates and 2 technical replicates (repeat hybridizations). A total of 3524 genes are represented on the arrays; of these, 41 and 176 are found on the plasmids pRA2 and pRA3, respectively. On average, there are 3 distinct 24nt probes per gene.
Project description:Comparison of probe-target dissociations of probe Eub338 and Gam42a with native RNA of P. putida, in vitro transcribed 16s rRNA of P. putida, in vitro transcribed 16S rRNA of a 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene contaminated soil and an uncontaminated soil sample. Functional ANOVA revealed no significant differences in the dissociation curves of probe Eub338 when hybridised to the different samples. On the opposite, the dissociation curve of probe Gam42a with native RNA of P. putida was significantly different than the dissociation curves obtained with in vitro transcribed 16S rRNA samples. Keywords: Microbial diversity, thermal dissociation analysis, CodeLink microarray
Project description:The survival, pollutant degradation activity and transcriptome response was monitored in Sphingomonas sp. LH128 inoculated into soil. Cultivable cell numbers were determined by plating, while phenanthrene degradation was monitored by HPLC. The genetic base for the adaptive strategy of LH128 in soil was investigated by using microarray consisting 7,200 gene-coding ORFs. During 4 hours of incubation, 510 genes were differentially expressed (317 increased and 193 reduced expression) while 610 genes were differentially expressed (318 increased and 292 reduced) after 10 days of incubation. Genes with increased expression comprised of gene encoding PAH catabolic enzymes, stress resistance, oxidative stress tolerance, outer membrane proteins/porins and efflux pump proteins while the downregulated genes comprised of genes encoding flagellar biosynthesis, ribosomal proteins and ATPase.