title: Transcriptomic and phenotypic analyses suggest a network between the transcriptional regulators HrcA and sigmaB in Listeria monocytogenes.
abstract: Listeria monocytogenes HrcA and CtsR negatively regulate class I and III stress response genes, respectively, while sigma(B) positively regulates the transcription of class II stress response genes. To define the HrcA regulon and identify interactions between HrcA, CtsR, and sigma(B), we characterized newly generated L. monocytogenes DeltahrcA, DeltactsR DeltahrcA, and DeltahrcA DeltasigB strains, along with previously described DeltasigB, DeltactsR, and DeltactsR DeltasigB strains, using phenotypic assays (i.e., heat resistance, acid resistance, and invasion of human intestinal epithelial cells) and performed whole-genome transcriptome analysis of the DeltahrcA strain. The hrcA and sigB deletions had significant effects on heat resistance. While the hrcA deletion had no significant effect on acid resistance or invasion efficiency in Caco-2 cells, a linear regression model revealed a significant (P = 0.0493) effect of interactions between the hrcA deletion and the ctsR deletion on invasiveness. Microarray-based transcriptome analyses and promoter searches identified (i) 25 HrcA-repressed genes, including two operons (the groESL and dnaK operons, both confirmed as HrcA regulated by quantitative real-time PCR) and one gene directly repressed by HrcA, and (ii) 36 genes that showed lower transcript levels in the DeltahrcA strain and thus appear to be indirectly upregulated by HrcA. A number of genes were found to be coregulated by either HrcA and CtsR (2 genes), HrcA and sigma(B) (31 genes), or all three regulators (5 genes, e.g., gadCB). Combined with previous evidence that sigma(B) appears to directly regulate hrcA transcription, our data suggest that HrcA and sigma(B), as well as CtsR, form a regulatory network that contributes to the transcription of a number of L. monocytogenes genes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Science, 413 Stocking Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
authors.forename: Yuewei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Haley F
authors.initials: HF
authors.lastname: Oliver
authors.forename: Sarita
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Raengpradub
authors.forename: M Elizabeth
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Palmer
authors.forename: Renato H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Orsi
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wiedmann
authors.forename: Kathryn J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Boor
mesh_terms: D000143:Acids / Q000494:pharmacology; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D001422:Bacterial Adhesion / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D002460:Cell Line; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000382:microbiology; D017353:Gene Deletion; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D006358:Hot Temperature; D006801:Humans; D008089:Listeria monocytogenes / Q000235:genetics* / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000502:physiology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D018085:Regulon / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D012808:Sigma Factor / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D000143:Acids; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; C079011:SigB protein, Bacteria; D012808:Sigma Factor; D014157:Transcription Factors