Computational prediction of the osmoregulation network in Synechococcus sp. WH8102.
BACKGROUND
Osmotic stress is caused by sudden changes in the impermeable solute concentration around a cell, which induces instantaneous water flow in or out of the cell to balance the concentration. Very little is known about the detailed response mechanism to osmotic stress in marine Synechococcus, one of the major oxygenic phototrophic cyanobacterial genera that contribute greatly to the global CO2 fixation.


RESULTS
We present here a computational study of the osmoregulation network in response to hyperosmotic stress of Synechococcus sp strain WH8102 using comparative genome analyses and computational prediction. In this study, we identified the key transporters, synthetases, signal sensor proteins and transcriptional regulator proteins, and found experimentally that of these proteins, 15 genes showed significantly changed expression levels under a mild hyperosmotic stress.


CONCLUSIONS
From the predicted network model, we have made a number of interesting observations about WH8102. Specifically, we found that (i) the organism likely uses glycine betaine as the major osmolyte, and others such as glucosylglycerol, glucosylglycerate, trehalose, sucrose and arginine as the minor osmolytes, making it efficient and adaptable to its changing environment; and (ii) sigma38, one of the seven types of sigma factors, probably serves as a global regulator coordinating the osmoregulation network and the other relevant networks.
Mao
Xizeng
X
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Institute of Bioinformatics, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA.
Olman
Victor
V
Stuart
Rhona
R
Paulsen
Ian T
IT
Palenik
Brian
B
Xu
Ying
Y
D001120:Arginine / Q000378:metabolism; D001622:Betaine / Q000378:metabolism; D011134:Polysaccharides / Q000378:metabolism*; D046940:Synechococcus / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000201:enzymology / Q000378:metabolism*; D014882:Water-Electrolyte Balance
D011134:Polysaccharides; D001622:Betaine; D001120:Arginine
J Biochem Mol Biol. 2006 Jul 31;39(4):394-9
16889682
Arch Microbiol. 2006 Dec;186(6):495-506
17019606
FEBS Lett. 1999 Mar 26;447(2-3):144-8
10214935
Mol Microbiol. 1996 Sep;21(5):887-93
8885260
PLoS Comput Biol. 2008 Jan;4(1):e2
18179280
Brief Bioinform. 2008 Sep;9(5):367-75
18420711
Nature. 2000 Feb 10;403(6770):623-7
10688190
Arch Microbiol. 2000 Oct;174(4):273-82
11081796
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2006 Jan 3;103(1):129-34
16373500
J Biol Chem. 2003 Feb 14;278(7):4932-42
12466265
Genetika. 2005 Dec;41(12):1589-600
16396444
Nucleic Acids Res. 2006 Feb 10;34(3):1050-65
16473855
Glycobiology. 2003 Apr;13(4):17R-27R
12626396
Nucleic Acids Res. 2005 Jul 1;33(Web Server issue):W116-20
15980438
Trends Biochem Sci. 1995 Sep;20(9):374
7482707
Biochemistry (Mosc). 2002 Apr;67(4):432-40
11996656
Trends Genet. 2000 Jun;16(6):276-7
10827456
BMC Genomics. 2007 Jun 08;8:156
17559671
Nature. 1999 Nov 4;402(6757):86-90
10573422
Mol Microbiol. 1995 May;16(4):649-56
7476160
Bioinformatics. 2006 Sep 1;22(17):2081-6
16837531
Plant Physiol Biochem. 2005 Feb;43(2):133-8
15820660
Genome Res. 2003 Nov;13(11):2498-504
14597658
Microbiol Mol Biol Rev. 2003 Dec;67(4):593-656
14665678
Nucleic Acids Res. 2006 Jul 1;34(Web Server issue):W720-4
16845106
Nucleic Acids Res. 2008 Jan;36(Database issue):D120-4
18158297
Biosci Biotechnol Biochem. 2006 Jan;70(1):273-5
16428848
J Biol Chem. 2001 Oct 5;276(40):36931-8
11479290
Nucleic Acids Res. 2008 Jan;36(Database issue):D281-8
18039703
Plant Cell. 2006 Mar;18(3):651-64
16461577
Nucleic Acids Res. 2005 Sep 12;33(16):5156-71
16157864
Microbiol Rev. 1989 Mar;53(1):121-47
2651863
FEMS Microbiol Lett. 2003 Nov 7;228(1):129-35
14612248
Bioinformatics. 2005 Oct 1;21(19):3787-93
15817693
Nucleic Acids Res. 1997 Sep 1;25(17):3389-402
9254694
J Bacteriol. 1998 Sep;180(18):4843-9
9733686
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2001 Apr 24;98(9):5116-21
11309499
Nucleic Acids Res. 2008 Jan;36(Database issue):D480-4
18077471
J Biol Chem. 2007 Sep 21;282(38):27666-77
17650500
ISME J. 2009 Jul;3(7):835-49
19340084
Nucleic Acids Res. 2007;35(10):3375-82
17478507
Mol Microbiol. 1993 Apr;8(2):205-10
8391102
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1999 Apr 13;96(8):4285-8
10200254
Nucleic Acids Res. 2009 Jan;37(Database issue):D459-63
18988623
J Biosci. 2007 Apr;32(3):559-68
17536175
Microbiol Mol Biol Rev. 2009 Jun;73(2):249-99
19487728
Syst Appl Microbiol. 2008 Aug;31(3):159-68
18599240