scholarly journals Phage-encoded sigma factors alter bacterial dormancy

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel A Schwartz ◽  
Brent K Lehmkuhl ◽  
Jay T Lennon
Keyword(s):  
Bacillus Subtilis ◽  
Metabolic Activity ◽  
Gene Network ◽  
Transcriptional Regulators ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Sigma Factors ◽  
Lytic Infection ◽  
Parasitic Infections ◽  
Spore Yield

By entering a reversible state of reduced metabolic activity, dormant microorganisms are able to tolerate suboptimal conditions that would otherwise reduce their fitness. Dormancy may also benefit bacteria by serving as a refuge from parasitic infections. Here we focus on dormancy in the Firmicutes, where endospore development is transcriptionally regulated by the expression of sigma factors. A disruption of this process could influence the survivorship and reproduction of phages that infect spore-forming hosts with implications for coevolutionary dynamics. Here, we characterized the distribution and diversity of sigma factors in nearly 3,500 phage genomes. Homologs of sporulation-specific sigma factors were identified in phages that infect spore-forming hosts. Unlike sigma factors required for phage reproduction, the sporulation-like sigma factors were non-essential for lytic infection. However, when expressed in the spore-forming Bacillus subtilis, sigma factors from phages activated the bacterial sporulation gene network and reduced spore yield. Our findings suggest that the acquisition of host-like transcriptional regulators may allow phages to manipulate a complex and ancient trait in one of the most abundant cell types on Earth.

scholarly journals Intracellular localization of the mycobacterial stressosome complex

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Malavika Ramesh ◽  
Ram Gopal Nitharwal ◽  
Phani Rama Krishna Behra ◽  
B. M. Fredrik Pettersson ◽  
Santanu Dasgupta ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bacillus Subtilis ◽  
Fluorescence Microscopy ◽  
Bacillus Cereus ◽  
Intracellular Localization ◽  
Sigma Factors ◽  
Alternative Sigma Factors ◽  
Expression Of Genes ◽  
Molecular Machinery ◽  
Stress Signals ◽  
Activation Pathways

AbstractMicroorganisms survive stresses by alternating the expression of genes suitable for surviving the immediate and present danger and eventually adapt to new conditions. Many bacteria have evolved a multiprotein "molecular machinery" designated the "Stressosome" that integrates different stress signals and activates alternative sigma factors for appropriate downstream responses. We and others have identified orthologs of some of the Bacillus subtilis stressosome components, RsbR, RsbS, RsbT and RsbUVW in several mycobacteria and we have previously reported mutual interactions among the stressosome components RsbR, RsbS, RsbT and RsbUVW from Mycobacterium marinum. Here we provide evidence that "STAS" domains of both RsbR and RsbS are important for establishing the interaction and thus critical for stressosome assembly. Fluorescence microscopy further suggested co-localization of RsbR and RsbS in multiprotein complexes visible as co-localized fluorescent foci distributed at scattered locations in the M. marinum cytoplasm; the number, intensity and distribution of such foci changed in cells under stressed conditions. Finally, we provide bioinformatics data that 17 (of 244) mycobacteria, which lack the RsbRST genes, carry homologs of Bacillus cereus genes rsbK and rsbM indicating the existence of alternative σF activation pathways among mycobacteria.

scholarly journals LSD induces increased signalling entropy in rats' prefrontal cortex

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aurora Savino ◽  
Charles D Nichols
Keyword(s):  
Prefrontal Cortex ◽  
Molecular Level ◽  
Transcriptional Regulators ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Rna Seq ◽  
Psychedelic Drugs ◽  
Underlying Mechanisms ◽  
Brain Entropy ◽  
New Compounds ◽  
Different Cell Types

Psychedelic drugs are gaining attention from the scientific community as potential new compounds for the treatment of psychiatric diseases such as mood and substance use disorders. The 5-HT2A receptor has been identified as the main molecular target, and early studies pointed to an effect on the expression of neuroplasticity genes. Analysing RNA-seq data from the prefrontal cortex of rats chronically treated with lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), we describe the psychedelic-induced rewiring of gene co-expression networks, which become less centralized but more complex, with an overall increase in signalling entropy, typical of highly plastic systems. Intriguingly, signalling entropy mirrors, at the molecular level, the increased brain entropy reported through neuroimaging studies in human, suggesting the underlying mechanisms of higher-order phenomena. Moreover, from the analysis of network topology we identify potential transcriptional regulators and imply different cell types in psychedelics' activity.

scholarly journals Effects of inducing or inhibiting apoptosis on Sindbis virus replication in mosquito cells

2008 ◽  
Vol 89 (11) ◽  
pp. 2651-2661 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hua Wang ◽  
Carol D. Blair ◽  
Ken E. Olson ◽  
Rollie J. Clem
Keyword(s):  
Virus Replication ◽  
Persistent Infection ◽  
Sindbis Virus ◽  
Actinomycin D ◽  
Virus Production ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Lytic Infection ◽  
Mosquito Cells ◽  
Infected Cells ◽  
Apoptotic Genes

Sindbis virus (SINV) is a mosquito-borne virus in the genus Alphavirus, family Togaviridae. Like most alphaviruses, SINVs exhibit lytic infection (apoptosis) in many mammalian cell types, but are generally thought to cause persistent infection with only moderate cytopathic effects in mosquito cells. However, there have been several reports of apoptotic-like cell death in mosquitoes infected with alphaviruses or flaviviruses. Given that apoptosis has been shown to be an antiviral response in other systems, we have constructed recombinant SINVs that express either pro-apoptotic or anti-apoptotic genes in order to test the effects of inducing or inhibiting apoptosis on SINV replication in mosquito cells. Recombinant SINVs expressing the pro-apoptotic genes reaper (rpr) from Drosophila or michelob_x (mx) from Aedes aegypti caused extensive apoptosis in cells from the mosquito cell line C6/36, thus changing the normal persistent infection observed with SINV to a lytic infection. Although the infected cells underwent apoptosis, high levels of virus replication were still observed during the initial infection. However, virus production subsequently decreased compared with persistently infected cells, which continued to produce high levels of virus over the next several days. Infection of C6/36 cells with SINV expressing the baculovirus caspase inhibitor P35 inhibited actinomycin D-induced caspase activity and protected infected cells from actinomycin D-induced apoptosis, but had no observable effect on virus replication. This study is the first to test directly whether inducing or inhibiting apoptosis affects arbovirus replication in mosquito cells.

Some effects of treatment of hen erythrocytes in vitro with N-methyl-N-nitrosourea

1981 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 153-162
Author(s):  
T.H. Ward ◽  
R.F. Itzhaki
Keyword(s):  
Metabolic Activity ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
Condensed State ◽  
Methylation Site ◽  
Histone Proteins ◽  
Chromatin Proteins

Studies have been made of the effect of N-methyl-N-nitrosourea on hen erythrocytes in vitro. These were done to find whether the highly condensed state of the chromatin and the very low metabolic activity of these cells would affect the extent of methylation of the DNA and chromatin proteins and the persistence of any methylation sites in these macromolecules with time after treatment. Also, the effect of methylnitrosourea on incorporation of [3H] uridine into RNA has been examined. It has been found that the DNA, histones and non-histone proteins are methylated. The main methylation site in DNA is 7-methylguanine and its level is higher than that found by others in the DNA of other cell types after treatment with methylnitrosourea; however, methylation of the two types of protein (especially the histones) is relatively very low. The level of methylation decreases in the DNA and the chromatin proteins with time after treatment. The amount of [3H] uridine in RNA was found to decrease after the treatment.

Bacillus subtilis transcriptional regulators interaction

2004 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 403-407 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alejandro Sánchez ◽  
Jorge Olmos
Keyword(s):  
Bacillus Subtilis ◽  
Transcriptional Regulators

scholarly journals Transcriptional Regulation and Mechanism of SigN (ZpdN), a pBS32-Encoded Sigma Factor in Bacillus subtilis

mBio ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aisha T. Burton ◽  
Aaron DeLoughery ◽  
Gene-Wei Li ◽  
Daniel B. Kearns
Keyword(s):  
Dna Damage ◽  
Bacillus Subtilis ◽  
Sigma Factor ◽  
Consensus Sequence ◽  
Sigma Factors ◽  
Sequencing Analysis ◽  
Dependent Manner ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Alternative Sigma Factors ◽  
Bona Fide

ABSTRACT Laboratory strains of Bacillus subtilis encode many alternative sigma factors, each dedicated to expressing a unique regulon such as those involved in stress resistance, sporulation, and motility. The ancestral strain of B. subtilis also encodes an additional sigma factor homolog, ZpdN, not found in lab strains due to being encoded on the large, low-copy-number plasmid pBS32, which was lost during domestication. DNA damage triggers pBS32 hyperreplication and cell death in a manner that depends on ZpdN, but how ZpdN mediates these effects is unknown. Here, we show that ZpdN is a bona fide sigma factor that can direct RNA polymerase to transcribe ZpdN-dependent genes, and we rename ZpdN SigN accordingly. Rend-seq (end-enriched transcriptome sequencing) analysis was used to determine the SigN regulon on pBS32, and the 5′ ends of transcripts were used to predict the SigN consensus sequence. Finally, we characterize the regulation of SigN itself and show that it is transcribed by at least three promoters: PsigN1, a strong SigA-dependent LexA-repressed promoter; PsigN2, a weak SigA-dependent constitutive promoter; and PsigN3, a SigN-dependent promoter. Thus, in response to DNA damage SigN is derepressed and then experiences positive feedback. How cells die in a pBS32-dependent manner remains unknown, but we predict that death is the product of expressing one or more genes in the SigN regulon. IMPORTANCE Sigma factors are utilized by bacteria to control and regulate gene expression. Some sigma factors are activated during times of stress to ensure the survival of the bacterium. Here, we report the presence of a sigma factor that is encoded on a plasmid that leads to cellular death after DNA damage.

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