title: RNA-Seq of Borrelia burgdorferi in Multiple Phases of Growth Reveals Insights into the Dynamics of Gene Expression, Transcriptome Architecture, and Noncoding RNAs.
abstract: Borrelia burgdorferi, the agent of Lyme disease, differentially expresses numerous genes and proteins as it cycles between mammalian hosts and tick vectors. Insights on regulatory mechanisms have been provided by earlier studies that examined B. burgdorferi gene expression patterns during cultivation. However, prior studies examined bacteria at only a single time point of cultivation, providing only a snapshot of what is likely a dynamic transcriptional program driving B. burgdorferi adaptations to changes during culture growth phases. To address that concern, we performed RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) analysis of B. burgdorferi cultures at early-exponential, mid-exponential, and early-stationary phases of growth. We found that expression of nearly 18% of annotated B. burgdorferi genes changed significantly during culture maturation. Moreover, genome-wide mapping of the B. burgdorferi transcriptome in different growth phases enabled insight on transcript boundaries, operon structures, and identified numerous putative non-coding RNAs. These RNA-Seq data are discussed and presented as a resource for the community of researchers seeking to better understand B. burgdorferi biology and pathogenesis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics, University of Kentucky School of Medicine, Lexington, KY, United States of America.
authors.forename: William K
authors.initials: WK
authors.lastname: Arnold
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics, University of Kentucky School of Medicine, Lexington, KY, United States of America.
authors.forename: Christina R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Savage
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Grand Forks, ND, United States of America.
authors.forename: Catherine A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Brissette
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, United States of America.
authors.forename: Janakiram
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Seshu
authors.affiliation: Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, United States of America.
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Livny
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics, University of Kentucky School of Medicine, Lexington, KY, United States of America.
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Stevenson
mesh_terms: D025065:Borrelia burgdorferi / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development*; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling / Q000379:methods*; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics; D012329:RNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D017423:Sequence Analysis, RNA / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D035683:MicroRNAs; D012329:RNA, Bacterial