title: RNA-seq reveals the critical role of CspA in regulating Brucella melitensis metabolism and virulence.
abstract: Brucella melitensis is a facultative intracellular bacterium that replicates within macrophages. The ability of Brucella to survive and multiply in the hostile environment of host macrophages is essential for its virulence. The cold shock protein CspA plays an important role in the virulence of B. melitensis. To analyze the genes regulated by CspA, the whole transcriptomes of B. melitensis NIΔcspA and its parental wild-type strain, B. melitensis NI, were sequenced and analyzed using the Solexa/Illumina sequencing platform. A total of 446 differentially expressed genes were identified, including 324 up-regulated and 122 down-regulated genes. Numerous genes identified are involved in amino acid, fatty acid, nitrogen, and energy metabolism. Interestingly, all genes involved in the type IV secretion system and LuxR-type regulatory protein VjbR were significantly down-regulated in NIΔcspA. In addition, an effector translocation assay confirmed that the function of T4SS in NIΔcspA is influenced by deletion of the cspA gene. These results revealed the differential phenomena associated with virulence and metabolism in NIΔcspA and NI, providing important information for understanding detailed CspA-regulated interaction networks and Brucella pathogenesis.
authors.affiliation: Animal Science and Technology College, Beijing University of Agriculture, Beijing, 102206, China.
authors.forename: Zhen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Epidemiology and Zoonosis of the Ministry of Agriculture, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China.
authors.forename: Wenxiao
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Epidemiology and Zoonosis of the Ministry of Agriculture, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China.
authors.forename: Tonglei
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Epidemiology and Zoonosis of the Ministry of Agriculture, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China.
authors.forename: Pengfei
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bie
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Animal Epidemiology and Zoonosis of the Ministry of Agriculture, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100193, China. wuqm@cau.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Qingmin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D015153:Blotting, Western; D017347:Brucella melitensis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000472:pathogenicity; D002460:Cell Line; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling / Q000379:methods; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D008264:Macrophages / Q000382:microbiology; D051379:Mice; D009154:Mutation; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017423:Sequence Analysis, RNA / Q000379:methods*; D059467:Transcriptome; D014774:Virulence / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; C062260:cold shock protein CS7.4, Bacteria
keywords: Brucella melitensis; cold shock protein; transcriptome; virulence