Probing for pH-regulated proteins in Sinorhizobium medicae using proteomic analysis

Comparative Proteomic Analysis Revealing ActJ-Regulated Proteins in Sinorhizobium meliloti

To adapt to different environmental conditions, Sinorhizobium meliloti relies on finely tuned regulatory networks, most of which are unexplored to date. We recently demonstrated that deletion of the two-component system ActJK renders an acid-vulnerable phenotype in S. meliloti and negatively impacts bacteroid development and nodule occupancy as well. To fully understand the role of ActJ in acid tolerance, S. meliloti wild-type and S. meliloti ΔactJ proteomes were compared in the presence or absence of acid stress by nanoflow ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. The analysis demonstrated that proteins involved in the synthesis of exopolysaccharides (EPSs) were notably enriched in ΔactJ cells in acid pH. Total EPS quantification further revealed that although EPS production was augmented at pH 5.6 in both the ΔactJ and the parental strain, the lack of ActJ significantly enhanced this difference. Moreover, several efflux pumps were found to be downregulated in the ΔactJ strain. Promoter fusion assays suggested that ActJ positively modulated its own expression in an acid medium but not at under neutral conditions. The results presented here identify several ActJ-regulated genes in S. meliloti, highlighting key components associated with ActJK regulation that will contribute to a better understanding of rhizobia adaptation to acid stress.

Global transcriptome analysis of Rhizobium favelukesii LPU83 in response to acid stress

Acidic environments naturally occur worldwide and inappropriate agricultural management may also cause acidification of soils. Low soil pH values are an important barrier in the plant-rhizobia interaction. Acidic conditions disturb the establishment of the efficient rhizobia usually used as biofertilizer. This negative effect on the rhizobia-legume symbiosis is mainly due to the low acid tolerance of the bacteria. Here, we describe the identification of relevant factors in the acid tolerance of Rhizobium favelukesii using transcriptome sequencing. A total of 1924 genes were differentially expressed under acidic conditions, with ∼60% underexpressed. Rhizobium favelukesii acid response mainly includes changes in the energy metabolism and protein turnover, as well as a combination of mechanisms that may contribute to this phenotype, including GABA and histidine metabolism, cell envelope modifications and reverse proton efflux. We confirmed the acid-sensitive phenotype of a mutant in the braD gene, which showed higher expression under acid stress. Remarkably, 60% of the coding sequences encoded in the symbiotic plasmid were underexpressed and we evidenced that a strain cured for this plasmid featured an improved performance under acidic conditions. Hence, this work provides relevant information in the characterization of genes associated with tolerance or adaptation to acidic stress of R. favelukesii.

Proteomic Analysis of Rhizobium favelukesii LPU83 in Response to Acid Stress

Acid soils constitute a severe problem for leguminous crops mainly through a disturbance in rhizobium-legume interactions. Rhizobium favelukesii-an acid-tolerant rhizobium able to nodulate alfalfa-is highly competitive for nodule occupation under acid conditions but inefficient for biologic nitrogen fixation. In this work, we obtained a general description of the acid-stress response of R. favelukesii LPU83 by means of proteomics by comparing the total proteome profiles in the presence or absence of acid stress by nanoflow ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. Thus, a total of 336 proteins were identified with a significant differential expression, 136 of which species were significantly overexpressed and 200 underexpressed in acidity. An in silico functional characterization with those respective proteins revealed a complex and pleiotropic response by these rhizobia involving components of oxidative phosphorylation, glutamate metabolism, and peptidoglycan biosynthesis, among other pathways. Furthermore, a lower permeability was evidenced in the acid-stressed cells along with several overexpressed proteins related to γ-aminobutyric acid metabolism, such as the gene product of livK, which gene was mutated. This mutant exhibited an acid-sensitive phenotype in agreement with the proteomics results. We conclude that both the γ-aminobutyric acid metabolism and a modified cellular envelope could be relevant to acid tolerance in R. favelukesii.

Multidisciplinary approaches for studying rhizobium–legume symbioses

The rhizobium–legume symbiosis is a major source of fixed nitrogen (ammonia) in the biosphere. The potential for this process to increase agricultural yield while reducing the reliance on nitrogen-based fertilizers has generated interest in understanding and manipulating this process. For decades, rhizobium research has benefited from the use of leading techniques from a very broad set of fields, including population genetics, molecular genetics, genomics, and systems biology. In this review, we summarize many of the research strategies that have been employed in the study of rhizobia and the unique knowledge gained from these diverse tools, with a focus on genome- and systems-level approaches. We then describe ongoing synthetic biology approaches aimed at improving existing symbioses or engineering completely new symbiotic interactions. The review concludes with our perspective of the future directions and challenges of the field, with an emphasis on how the application of a multidisciplinary approach and the development of new methods will be necessary to ensure successful biotechnological manipulation of the symbiosis.

High-quality draft genome sequence of Ensifer meliloti Mlalz-1, a microsymbiont of Medicago laciniata (L.) miller collected in Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain

10.1601/nm.1335 Mlalz-1 (INSDC = ATZD00000000) is an aerobic, motile, Gram-negative, non-spore-forming rod that was isolated from an effective nitrogen-fixing nodule of Medicago laciniata (L.) Miller from a soil sample collected near the town of Guatiza on the island of Lanzarote, the Canary Islands, Spain. This strain nodulates and forms an effective symbiosis with the highly specific host M. laciniata. This rhizobial genome was sequenced as part of the DOE Joint Genome Institute 2010 Genomic Encyclopedia for Bacteria and Archaea-Root Nodule Bacteria (GEBA-RNB) sequencing project. Here the features of 10.1601/nm.1335 Mlalz-1 are described, together with high-quality permanent draft genome sequence information and annotation. The 6,664,116 bp high-quality draft genome is arranged in 99 scaffolds of 100 contigs, containing 6314 protein-coding genes and 74 RNA-only encoding genes. Strain Mlalz-1 is closely related to 10.1601/nm.1335 10.1601/strainfinder?urlappend=%3Fid%3DIAM+12611 T, 10.1601/nm.1334 A 321T and 10.1601/nm.17831 10.1601/strainfinder?urlappend=%3Fid%3DORS+1407 T, based on 16S rRNA gene sequences. gANI values of ≥98.1% support the classification of strain Mlalz-1 as 10.1601/nm.1335. Nodulation of M. laciniata requires a specific nodC allele, and the nodC gene of strain Mlalz-1 shares ≥98% sequence identity with nodC of M. laciniata-nodulating 10.1601/nm.1328 strains, but ≤93% with nodC of 10.1601/nm.1328 strains that nodulate other Medicago species. Strain Mlalz-1 is unique among sequenced 10.1601/nm.1335 strains in possessing genes encoding components of a T2SS and in having two versions of the adaptive acid tolerance response lpiA-acvB operon. In 10.1601/nm.1334 strain 10.1601/strainfinder?urlappend=%3Fid%3DWSM+419, lpiA is essential for enhancing survival in lethal acid conditions. The second copy of the lpiA-acvB operon of strain Mlalz-1 has highest sequence identity (> 96%) with that of 10.1601/nm.1334 strains, which suggests genetic recombination between strain Mlalz-1 and 10.1601/nm.1334 and the horizontal gene transfer of lpiA-acvB.

A consolidated analysis of the physiologic and molecular responses induced under acid stress in the legume-symbiont model-soil bacterium Sinorhizobium meliloti

Abiotic stresses in general and extracellular acidity in particular disturb and limit nitrogen-fixing symbioses between rhizobia and their host legumes. Except for valuable molecular-biological studies on different rhizobia, no consolidated models have been formulated to describe the central physiologic changes that occur in acid-stressed bacteria. We present here an integrated analysis entailing the main cultural, metabolic, and molecular responses of the model bacterium Sinorhizobium meliloti growing under controlled acid stress in a chemostat. A stepwise extracellular acidification of the culture medium had indicated that S. meliloti stopped growing at ca. pH 6.0–6.1. Under such stress the rhizobia increased the O₂ consumption per cell by more than 5-fold. This phenotype, together with an increase in the transcripts for several membrane cytochromes, entails a higher aerobic-respiration rate in the acid-stressed rhizobia. Multivariate analysis of global metabolome data served to unequivocally correlate specific-metabolite profiles with the extracellular pH, showing that at low pH the pentose-phosphate pathway exhibited increases in several transcripts, enzymes, and metabolites. Further analyses should be focused on the time course of the observed changes, its associated intracellular signaling, and on the comparison with the changes that operate during the sub lethal acid-adaptive response (ATR) in rhizobia.

The role of sigma factor RpoH1 in the pH stress response of Sinorhizobium meliloti

Background

Environmental pH stress constitutes a limiting factor for S. meliloti survival and development. The response to acidic pH stress in S. meliloti is versatile and characterized by the differential expression of genes associated with various cellular functions. The purpose of this study was to gain detailed insight into the participation of sigma factors in the complex stress response system of S. meliloti 1021 using pH stress as an effector.

Results

In vitro assessment of S meliloti wild type and sigma factor mutants provided first evidence that the sigma factor RpoH1 plays a major role in the pH stress response. Differential expression of genes related to rhizobactin biosynthesis was observed in microarray analyses performed with the rpoH1 mutant at pH 7.0. The involvement of the sigma factor RpoH1 in the regulation of S. meliloti genes upon pH stress was analyzed by comparing time-course experiments of the wild type and the rpoH1 mutant. Three classes of S. meliloti genes could be identified, which were transcriptionally regulated in an RpoH1-independent, an RpoH1-dependent or in a complex manner. The first class of S. meliloti genes, regulated in an RpoH1-independent manner, comprises the group of the exopolysaccharide I biosynthesis genes and also the group of genes involved in motility and flagellar biosynthesis. The second class of S. meliloti genes, regulated in an RpoH1-dependent manner, is composed of genes known from heat shock studies, like ibpA, grpE and groEL5, as well as genes involved in translation like tufA and rplC. Finally, the third class of S. meliloti genes was regulated in a complex manner, which indicates that besides sigma factor RpoH1, further regulation takes place. This was found to be the case for the genes dctA, ndvA and smc01505.

Conclusions

Clustering of time-course microarray data of S. meliloti wild type and sigma factor rpoH1 mutant allowed for the identification of gene clusters, each with a unique time-dependent expression pattern, as well as for the classification of genes according to their dependence on RpoH1 expression and regulation. This study provided clear evidence that the sigma factor RpoH1 plays a major role in pH stress response.

The time course of the transcriptomic response of Sinorhizobium meliloti 1021 following a shift to acidic pH

Background

The symbiotic soil bacterium Sinorhizobium meliloti often has to face low pH in its natural habitats. To identify genes responding to pH stress a global transcriptional analysis of S. meliloti strain 1021 following a pH shift from pH 7.0 to pH 5.75 was carried out. In detail, oligo-based whole genome microarrays were used in a time course experiment. The monitoring period covered a time span of about one hour after the pH shift. The obtained microarray data was filtered and grouped by K-means clustering in order to obtain groups of genes behaving similarly concerning their expression levels throughout the time course.

Results

The results display a versatile response of S. meliloti 1021 represented by distinct expression profiles of subsets of genes with functional relation. The eight generated clusters could be subdivided into a group of four clusters containing genes that were up-regulated and another group of four clusters containing genes that were down-regulated in response to the acidic pH shift. The respective mean expression progression of the four up-regulated clusters could be described as (i) permanently and strong, (ii) permanently and intermediate, (iii) permanently and progressive, and (iv) transiently up-regulated. The expression profile of the four down-regulated clusters could be characterized as (i) permanently, (ii) permanently and progressive, (iii) transiently, and (iv) ultra short down-regulated. Genes coding for proteins with functional relation were mostly cumulated in the same cluster, pointing to a characteristic expression profile for distinct cellular functions. Among the strongest up-regulated genes lpiA, degP1, cah, exoV and exoH were found. The most striking functional groups responding to the shift to acidic pH were genes of the exopolysaccharide I biosynthesis as well as flagellar and chemotaxis genes. While the genes of the exopolysaccharide I biosynthesis (exoY, exoQ, exoW, exoV, exoT, exoH, exoK exoL, exoO, exoN, exoP) were up-regulated, the expression level of the flagellar and chemotaxis genes (visR, motA, flgF, flgB, flgC, fliE, flgG, flgE, flgL, flbT, mcpU) simultaneously decreased in response to acidic pH. Other responding functional groups of genes mainly belonged to nitrogen uptake and metabolism (amtB, nrtB, nirB, nirD), methionine metabolism (metA, metF, metH, metK, bmt and ahcY) as well as ion transport systems (sitABCD, phoCD). It is noteworthy, that several genes coding for hypothetical proteins of unknown function could be identified as up-regulated in response to the pH shift.

Conclusion

It was shown that the short term response to acidic pH stress does not result in a simple induction or repression of genes, but in a sequence of responses varying in their intensity over time. Obviously, the response to acidic pH is not based on a few specific genes, but involves whole sets of genes associated with various cellular functions.

Transcriptome profiling and functional analysis of Agrobacterium tumefaciens reveals a general conserved response to acidic conditions (pH 5.5) and a complex acid-mediated signaling involved in Agrobacterium-plant interactions

Agrobacterium tumefaciens transferred DNA (T-DNA) transfer requires that the virulence genes (vir regulon) on the tumor-inducing (Ti) plasmid be induced by plant phenolic signals in an acidic environment. Using transcriptome analysis, we found that these acidic conditions elicit two distinct responses: (i) a general and conserved response through which Agrobacterium modulates gene expression patterns to adapt to environmental acidification and (ii) a highly specialized acid-mediated signaling response involved in Agrobacterium-plant interactions. Overall, 78 genes were induced and 74 genes were repressed significantly under acidic conditions (pH 5.5) compared to neutral conditions (pH 7.0). Microarray analysis not only confirmed previously identified acid-inducible genes but also uncovered many new acid-induced genes which may be directly involved in Agrobacterium-plant interactions. These genes include virE0, virE1, virH1, and virH2. Further, the chvG-chvI two-component system, previously shown to be critical for virulence, was also induced under acid conditions. Interestingly, acidic conditions induced a type VI secretion system and a putative nonheme catalase. We provide evidence suggesting that acid-induced gene expression was independent of the VirA-VirG two-component system. Our results, together with previous data, support the hypothesis that there is three-step sequential activation of the vir regulon. This process involves a cascade regulation and hierarchical signaling pathway featuring initial direct activation of the VirA-VirG system by the acid-activated ChvG-ChvI system. Our data strengthen the notion that Agrobacterium has evolved a mechanism to perceive and subvert the acidic conditions of the rhizosphere to an important signal that initiates and directs the early virulence program, culminating in T-DNA transfer.

Proteomic characterization of acid stress response inSynechocystis sp. PCC 6803

A comparative proteomic analysis using 2-DE coupled with MALDI-MS and LC-MS/MS was performed in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 to identify protein candidates involved in acid stress response in cyanobacteria. Comparison of soluble proteins from the cytoplasmic fraction of cells grown on media set at pH 7.5 and 5.5 using 2-DE identified four proteins, which showed significant changes in the abundance. Surprisingly, several general stress proteins, either the heat shock family proteins or chaperonins, did not show perceptible fold changes in response to acidity. Compared to the cytoplasmic proteome, the periplasmic proteome showed remarkable changes as a function of external pH. Protein expression profiling at different external pH, i.e., 9.0, 7.5, 6.0 and 5.5, allowed classifying the periplasmic proteins depending on their preferential expression patterns towards acidity or alkalinity. Among the acid- and base-induced proteins, oxalate decarboxylase and carbonic anhydrase were already known for their role in pH homeostasis. Several unknown proteins from the periplasm, that showed significant changes in response to pH, provide ideal targets for further studies in understanding pH stress response in cyanobacteria. This study also identified 14 novel proteins, hitherto unknown from the periplasmic space of Synechocystis.

sinI- and expR-dependent quorum sensing in Sinorhizobium meliloti

Quorum sensing (QS) in Sinorhizobium meliloti, the N-fixing bacterial symbiont of Medicago host plants, involves at least half a dozen different N-acyl homoserine lactone (AHL) signals and perhaps an equal number of AHL receptors. The accumulation of 55 proteins was found to be dependent on SinI, the AHL synthase, and/or on ExpR, one of the AHL receptors. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry identified 3-oxo-C(14)-homoserine lactone (3-oxo-C(14)-HSL), C(16)-HSL, 3-oxo-C(16)-HSL, C(16:1)-HSL, and 3-oxo-C(16:1)-HSL as the sinI-dependent AHL QS signals accumulated by the 8530 expR(+) strain under the conditions used for proteome analysis. The 8530 expR(+) strain secretes additional, unidentified QS-active compounds. Addition of 200 nM C(14)-HSL or C(16:1)-HSL, two of the known SinI AHLs, affected the levels of 75% of the proteins, confirming that their accumulation is QS regulated. A number of the QS-regulated proteins have functions plausibly related to symbiotic interactions with the host, including ExpE6, IdhA, MocB, Gor, PckA, LeuC, and AglE. Seven of 10 single-crossover beta-glucuronidase (GUS) transcriptional reporters in genes corresponding to QS-regulated proteins showed significantly different activities in the sinI and expR mutant backgrounds and in response to added SinI AHLs. The sinI mutant and several of the single-crossover strains were significantly delayed in the ability to initiate nodules on the primary root of the host plant, Medicago truncatula, indicating that sinI-dependent QS regulation and QS-regulated proteins contribute importantly to the rate or efficiency of nodule initiation. The sinI and expR mutants were also defective in surface swarming motility. The sinI mutant was restored to normal swarming by 5 nM C(16:1)-HSL.