Impact of Hfq on the Bacillus subtilis transcriptome

The RNA chaperone Hfq acts as a central player in post-transcriptional gene regulation in several Gram-negative Bacteria, whereas comparatively little is known about its role in Gram-positive Bacteria. Here, we studied the function of Hfq in Bacillus subtilis, and show that it confers a survival adv...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2014-06, Vol.9 (6), p.e98661
Main Authors: Hämmerle, Hermann, Amman, Fabian, Večerek, Branislav, Stülke, Jörg, Hofacker, Ivo, Bläsi, Udo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Abundance
Aerobiosis
Anaerobic respiration
Annealing
Bacillus subtilis
Bacillus subtilis - genetics
Bacillus subtilis - growth & development
Bacillus subtilis - metabolism
Bacteria
Bacterial Proteins - genetics
Bacterial Proteins - metabolism
Bioinformatics
Biology and life sciences
DNA-Binding Proteins - genetics
E coli
Gene expression
Gene Expression Profiling - methods
Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial
Gene regulation
Genes
Genomes
Genomics
Gram-negative bacteria
Gram-positive bacteria
Host Factor 1 Protein - genetics
Host Factor 1 Protein - metabolism
Laboratories
Listeria
Listeria monocytogenes
Molecular biology
Post-transcription
Proteins
Regulon
Ribonucleic acid
RNA
RNA, Bacterial - analysis
RNA, Messenger - analysis
RNA, Small Nuclear - analysis
Salmonella
Streptococcus infections
Stress, Physiological
Transcription Factors - genetics
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The RNA chaperone Hfq acts as a central player in post-transcriptional gene regulation in several Gram-negative Bacteria, whereas comparatively little is known about its role in Gram-positive Bacteria. Here, we studied the function of Hfq in Bacillus subtilis, and show that it confers a survival advantage. A comparative transcriptome analysis revealed mRNAs with a differential abundance that are governed by the ResD-ResE system required for aerobic and anaerobic respiration. Expression of resD was found to be up-regulated in the hfq- strain. Furthermore, several genes of the GerE and ComK regulons were de-regulated in the hfq- background. Surprisingly, only six out of >100 known and predicted small RNAs (sRNAs) showed altered abundance in the absence of Hfq. Moreover, Hfq positively affected the transcript abundance of genes encoding type I toxin-antitoxin systems. Taken the moderate effect on sRNA levels and mRNAs together, it seems rather unlikely that Hfq plays a central role in RNA transactions in Bacillus subtilis.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0098661