title: Comparative RNA-Seq based dissection of the regulatory networks and environmental stimuli underlying Vibrio parahaemolyticus gene expression during infection.
abstract: Vibrio parahaemolyticus is the leading worldwide cause of seafood-associated gastroenteritis, yet little is known regarding its intraintestinal gene expression or physiology. To date, in vivo analyses have focused on identification and characterization of virulence factors--e.g. a crucial Type III secretion system (T3SS2)--rather than genome-wide analyses of in vivo biology. Here, we used RNA-Seq to profile V. parahaemolyticus gene expression in infected infant rabbits, which mimic human infection. Comparative transcriptomic analysis of V. parahaemolyticus isolated from rabbit intestines and from several laboratory conditions enabled identification of mRNAs and sRNAs induced during infection and of regulatory factors that likely control them. More than 12% of annotated V. parahaemolyticus genes are differentially expressed in the intestine, including the genes of T3SS2, which are likely induced by bile-mediated activation of the transcription factor VtrB. Our analyses also suggest that V. parahaemolyticus has access to glucose or other preferred carbon sources in vivo, but that iron is inconsistently available. The V. parahaemolyticus transcriptional response to in vivo growth is far more widespread than and largely distinct from that of V. cholerae, likely due to the distinct ways in which these diarrheal pathogens interact with and modulate the environment in the small intestine.
authors.affiliation: The Broad Institute, Cambridge, MA, USA Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Microbiology and Immunobiology, Brigham & Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School and HHMI, 181 Longwood Ave., Boston, MA, USA livny@broadinstitute.org.
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Livny
authors.affiliation: Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Microbiology and Immunobiology, Brigham & Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School and HHMI, 181 Longwood Ave., Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Xiaohui
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Microbiology and Immunobiology, Brigham & Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School and HHMI, 181 Longwood Ave., Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Anjali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mandlik
authors.affiliation: Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Microbiology and Immunobiology, Brigham & Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School and HHMI, 181 Longwood Ave., Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Troy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hubbard
authors.affiliation: Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Microbiology and Immunobiology, Brigham & Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School and HHMI, 181 Longwood Ave., Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Brigid M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.affiliation: The Broad Institute, Cambridge, MA, USA Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Microbiology and Immunobiology, Brigham & Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School and HHMI, 181 Longwood Ave., Boston, MA, USA mwaldor@research.bwh.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: Matthew K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Waldor
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D058947:Bacterial Secretion Systems / Q000235:genetics; D004777:Environment; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D053263:Gene Regulatory Networks; D007422:Intestines / Q000821:virology; D058727:RNA, Small Untranslated / Q000378:metabolism; D011817:Rabbits; D018085:Regulon; D017423:Sequence Analysis, RNA; D015534:Trans-Activators / Q000378:metabolism; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism; D014735:Vibrio Infections / Q000821:virology*; D014734:Vibrio cholerae / Q000235:genetics; D014736:Vibrio parahaemolyticus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000472:pathogenicity; D014774:Virulence
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D058947:Bacterial Secretion Systems; C095092:ExsA protein, bacteria; C500454:OpaR protein, Vibrio parahaemolyticus; D058727:RNA, Small Untranslated; D015534:Trans-Activators; D014157:Transcription Factors