Transcriptomic insights on differential gene regulations in viable but non-culturable (VBNC) bacteria under chlorine disinfection
Transcriptomic profiling of untreated cells versus VBNC cells was utilized to investigate the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and the associated functional changes upon the entry of VBNC state. One E. coli strain and one Enterococcus faecium strain were isolated from municipal effluents and exposed to chlorination to induce VBNC state. In addition to indigenous sewage strains, two reference strains (E. coli ATCC 25922 and E. faecium ATCC 19434) were included to compare the differences between sewage-isolated and laboratory-maintained strains under different disinfection stresses. Furthermore, the experiments were conducted in two different media: phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) and sterilized effluent, the prior offered a controlled and relatively nutrient-limited condition, while the latter simulated the actual disinfection conditions where high levels of nutrients and organic matter are present. To conclude, this dataset includes the transcriptomic sequencing raw data of 4 bacterial strains (2 E. coli &amp; 2 E. faecium) in two types of media (PBS vs effluent) with two physiological state (healthy vs VBNC).