title: Cyclic di-GMP contributes to adaption and virulence of Bacillus thuringiensis through a riboswitch-regulated collagen adhesion protein.
abstract: Cyclic di-GMP is a ubiquitous second messenger that regulates diverse cellular processes in bacteria by binding to various protein or riboswitch effectors. In Bacillus thuringiensis BMB171, a c-di-GMP riboswitch termed Bc2 RNA resides in the 5'-untranslated region (5'-UTR) of an mRNA that encodes a collagen adhesion protein (Cap). The expression of cap was strongly repressed in parent strain BMB171 because of the presence of Bc2 RNA but was significantly promoted in the Bc2 RNA markerless deletion mutant. Bc2 RNA acts as a genetic "on" switch, which forms an anti-terminator structure to promote cap read-through transcription upon c-di-GMP binding. As a result, cap transcription was de-repressed under high c-di-GMP levels. Therefore, Bc2 RNA regulates cap expression using a repression/de-repression model. Bc2 RNA-regulated Cap was also found to be tightly associated with motility, aggregation, exopolysaccharide secretion, biofilm formation, and virulence of B. thuringiensis BMB171 against its host insect Helicoverpa armigera.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei 430070, PR China.
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei 430070, PR China.
authors.forename: Kang
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei 430070, PR China.
authors.forename: Hongliang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Qian
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei 430070, PR China.
authors.forename: Youwen
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei 430070, PR China.
authors.forename: Wen
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biochemistry, and NCHU Agricultural Biotechnology Center, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung 40227, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Shan-Ho
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Chou
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei 430070, PR China.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei 430070, PR China.|Key Laboratory of Agro-Microbial Resource and Development, Ministry of Agriculture, Wuhan, Hubei 430070, PR China.
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: He
mesh_terms: D020121:5' Untranslated Regions; D000818:Animals; D001413:Bacillus thuringiensis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D001422:Bacterial Adhesion; D018441:Biofilms; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D003094:Collagen / Q000737:chemistry*; D019295:Computational Biology; D006152:Cyclic GMP / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000378:metabolism; D017353:Gene Deletion; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D007313:Insecta / Q000382:microbiology; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D009154:Mutation; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D016366:Open Reading Frames; D011485:Protein Binding; D012313:RNA / Q000378:metabolism; D058928:Riboswitch; D014774:Virulence; D001616:beta-Galactosidase / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D020121:5' Untranslated Regions; D058928:Riboswitch; C062025:bis(3',5')-cyclic diguanylic acid; D012313:RNA; D003094:Collagen; D001616:beta-Galactosidase; D006152:Cyclic GMP