title: Comparative transcriptome analysis of Brucella melitensis in an acidic environment: Identification of the two-component response regulator involved in the acid resistance and virulence of Brucella.
abstract: Brucella melitensis, encounters a very stressful environment in phagosomes, especially low pH levels. So identifying the genes that contribute to the replication and survival within an acidic environment is critical in understanding the pathogenesis of the Brucella bacteria. In our research, comparative transcriptome with RNA-seq were used to analyze the changes of genes in normal-medium culture and in pH4.4-medium culture. The results reveal that 113 genes expressed with significant differences (|log2Ratio| ≥ 3); about 44% genes expressed as up-regulated. With GO term analysis, structural constituent of the ribosome, rRNA binding, structural molecule activity, and cation-transporting ATPase activity were significantly enriched (p-value ≤ 0.05). These genes distributed in 51 pathways, in which ribosome and photosynthesis pathways were significantly enriched. Six pathways (oxidative phosphorylation, iron-transporting, bacterial secretion system, transcriptional regulation, two-component system, and ABC transporters pathways) tightly related to the intracellular survival and virulence of Brucella were analyzed. A two-component response regulator gene in the transcriptional regulation pathway, identified through gene deletion and complementary technologies, played an important role in the resistance to the acid-resistance and virulence of Brucella.
authors.affiliation: Jilin Agricultural Science and Technology University, Jilin 132101, China. Electronic address: qianhongliu@126.com.
authors.forename: Qianhong
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Guangzhou Airport Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Brueau of P.R.C, Guangzhou 510470, China.
authors.forename: Xingyu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Jilin Agricultural Science and Technology University, Jilin 132101, China.
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: Jilin Agricultural Science and Technology University, Jilin 132101, China.
authors.forename: Yuhua
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Jilin Agricultural Science and Technology University, Jilin 132101, China.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: Jilin Agricultural Science and Technology University, Jilin 132101, China.
authors.forename: Yuanyuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Jilin Agricultural Science and Technology University, Jilin 132101, China.
authors.forename: Lu
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Jilin Agricultural Science and Technology University, Jilin 132101, China.
authors.forename: Youpeng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sun
mesh_terms: D000143:Acids / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D017347:Brucella melitensis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D002006:Brucellosis / Q000382:microbiology*; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D006801:Humans; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D014774:Virulence
chemical_list: D000143:Acids; D001426:Bacterial Proteins
keywords: Acid stress; Brucella melitensis; Two-component response regulator; Virulence