Adaptation of Bacillus subtilis to growth at low temperature: a combined transcriptomic and proteomic appraisal

Abstract

The soil bacterium Bacillus subtilis frequently encounters a reduction in temperature in its natural habitats. Here, a combined transcriptomic and proteomic approach has been used to analyse the adaptational responses of B. subtilis to low temperature. Propagation of B. subtilis in minimal medium at 15 6C triggered the induction of 279 genes and the repression of 301 genes in comparison to cells grown at 37 6C. The analysis thus revealed profound adjustments in the overall gene expression profile in chill-adapted cells. Important transcriptional changes in low-temperature-grown cells comprise the induction of the SigB-controlled general stress regulon, the induction of parts of the early sporulation regulons (SigF, SigE and SigG) and the induction of a regulatory circuit (RapA/PhrA and Opp) that is involved in the fine-tuning of the phosphorylation status of the Spo0A response regulator. The analysis of chill-stress-repressed genes revealed reductions in major catabolic (glycolysis, oxidative phosphorylation, ATP synthesis) and anabolic routes (biosynthesis of purines, pyrimidines, haem and fatty acids) that likely reflect the slower growth rates at low temperature. Low-temperature repression of part of the SigW regulon and of many genes with predicted functions in chemotaxis and motility was also noted. The proteome analysis of chill-adapted cells indicates a major contribution of post-transcriptional regulation phenomena in adaptation to low temperature. Comparative analysis of the previously reported transcriptional responses of cold-shocked B. subtilis cells with this data revealed that cold shock and growth in the cold constitute physiologically distinct phases of the adaptation of B. subtilis to low temperature.

Psychrobacter arcticus 273-4 Uses Resource Efficiency and Molecular Motion Adaptations for Subzero Temperature Growth

“…While protein misfolding and aggregation are thought to lead to the induction of chaperones and peptidyl-prolyl cistrans isomerases at low temperature (5,8,24,36,46,48), only clpB and hsp33 homologs were upregulated in P. arcticus during low-temperature growth. Expression of hsp33 is induced under heat stress and oxidative stress conditions (27), and this P. arcticus response is most likely due to increased amounts of reactive oxygen species at low temperature in the culture vessels.…”

“…The stringent response is thought to be induced primarily by reduced cytoplasmic pools of charged tRNAs, and changes in amino acid metabolism genes are commonly observed during growth at low temperature. For example, genes for arginine and aromatic amino acid biosynthesis are induced during cold-acclimated growth in Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis at 15°C (8,36), and arginine biosynthesis and histidine biosynthesis were induced in Listeria monocytogenes growing at 10°C (34). P. arcticus differentially expressed 42 amino acid biosynthesis and tRNA synthetase genes during growth at low temperature.…”

“…RNase R and PNPase of E. coli are induced during cold shock (9,36). RNase PH, PNPase, and RNase R were induced during cold-acclimated growth of B. subtilis (8). PNPase is essential for growth of Yersinia entercolitica at low temperature (25).…”

TrgI, toluene repressed gene I, a novel gene involved in toluene-tolerance in Pseudomonas putida S12

“…Several recent studies furthermore combine transcriptomics and proteomics analyses. In most cases, the two -omics technologies were used supplementarily to each other yielding a panoramic view of the responses of the organism to various conditions (Griffin et al 2002;Mostertz et al 2004;Brown et al 2006;Budde et al 2006).…”

Batch Submerged Fermentation in Shake Flask Culture and Bioreactor: Influence of Different Agricultural Residuals as the Substrate on the Optimization of Xylanase Production by Bacillus subtilis and Aspergillus brasiliensis

“…Korsten L, et al [29] stated that the optimum temperature range for the growth of B. subtilis was occurred from 30°C to 37°C. In fact, optimum growth temperature of 37°C for B. subtilis was also used in the study by Budde I, et al [30]. Similarly, Kuancha C, et al [31] discussed that the incubation temperature lower than 28°C and higher than 40°C were not suitable for xylanase production by B. subtilis.…”