GSE68762
Bacteria differently regulate mRNA abundance to specifically respond to various stresses
Environmental stress is detrimental to cell viability and requires an adequate reprogramming of cellular activities to maximize cell survival. We present a global analysis of the response of Escherichia coli to acute heat and osmotic stress. We combine deep sequencing of total mRNA and ribosome-protected fragments to provide a genome-wide map of the stress response at transcriptional and translational level. For each type of stress, we observe a unique subset of genes that shape the stress-specific response. Upon temperature upshift, mRNAs with reduced folding stability up- and downstream of the start codon, and thus with more accessible initiation regions, are translationally favoured. Conversely, osmotic upshift causes a global reduction of highly-translated transcripts with high copy numbers, allowing reallocation of translation resources to undegraded and newly synthesised mRNAs Overall design: Comparing global transcriptional and translational control by mRNA-Seq and Ribosome Profiling (mRNA-Seq of ribosome protected fragments – RPF)