TY - JOUR
T1 - Global gene expression analysis of Streptococcus agalactiae at the exponential growth phase
AU - Silvestre, Inês
AU - Borges, Vítor
AU - Duarte, Sílvia
AU - Nunes, Alexandra
AU - Sobral, Rita
AU - Vieira, Luís
AU - Gomes, João P.
AU - Borrego, Maria J.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 by the C.M.B. Association.
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - A comparative overview of the global gene expression levels of S. agalactiae reference strain NEM316 at the exponential growth phase was done through RNA-sequencing. The expression levels of 47 genes potentially linked to virulence evidenced that: i) the major nuclease, GBS_RS03720/gbs0661, presented higher mean expression values than the remainder of DNase genes; ii) the genetic pilus island PI-2a genes presented higher mean expression values than PI-1 coding genes; and, iii) three virulence-associated genes ranked among the top-100 most expressed genes (GBS_RS07760, GBS_RS09445 and GBS_RS03485). Among this top-100, genes encoding proteins involved in "Translation, ribosomal structure and biogenesis"represented 46%. Curiously, genes with no assigned function were grouped in the category of highly expressed genes. As very little is known about the molecular mechanisms behind the release of DNases, preliminary assays were developed to understand whether direct DNA exposure would affect gene expression at the exponential growth phase. No differentially expressed genes were detected, indicating that follow-up studies are needed to disclose the complex molecular pathways (and stimuli) triggering the release of DNases. In general, our insights on the global expression levels of NEM316 at exponential growth phase with and without DNA exposure should open novel research lines to decipher S. agalactiae puzzling adaptation and virulence mechanisms, such as DNase production.
AB - A comparative overview of the global gene expression levels of S. agalactiae reference strain NEM316 at the exponential growth phase was done through RNA-sequencing. The expression levels of 47 genes potentially linked to virulence evidenced that: i) the major nuclease, GBS_RS03720/gbs0661, presented higher mean expression values than the remainder of DNase genes; ii) the genetic pilus island PI-2a genes presented higher mean expression values than PI-1 coding genes; and, iii) three virulence-associated genes ranked among the top-100 most expressed genes (GBS_RS07760, GBS_RS09445 and GBS_RS03485). Among this top-100, genes encoding proteins involved in "Translation, ribosomal structure and biogenesis"represented 46%. Curiously, genes with no assigned function were grouped in the category of highly expressed genes. As very little is known about the molecular mechanisms behind the release of DNases, preliminary assays were developed to understand whether direct DNA exposure would affect gene expression at the exponential growth phase. No differentially expressed genes were detected, indicating that follow-up studies are needed to disclose the complex molecular pathways (and stimuli) triggering the release of DNases. In general, our insights on the global expression levels of NEM316 at exponential growth phase with and without DNA exposure should open novel research lines to decipher S. agalactiae puzzling adaptation and virulence mechanisms, such as DNase production.
KW - DNases
KW - NEM316
KW - RNA-seq
KW - Streptococcus agalactiae
KW - exponential growth phase
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85143917237&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.14715/cmb/2022.68.7.1
DO - 10.14715/cmb/2022.68.7.1
M3 - Article
C2 - 36495527
AN - SCOPUS:85143917237
SN - 0145-5680
VL - 68
SP - 1
EP - 8
JO - Cellular and Molecular Biology
JF - Cellular and Molecular Biology
IS - 7
ER -