Transcriptome analysis of temporal regulation of carbon metabolism by CcpA in Bacillus subtilis reveals additional target genes

Tartrate Dehydrogenase in Bacillus Species: Deciphering Unique Catalytic Diversity Through Kinetic, Structural and Molecular Docking Analysis

Divergently evolved Tartrate dehydrogenase (TDH) exhibits multiple catalytic activities at a single active site; the enzyme from P. putida (pTDH) being structurally and biochemically well-characterized. Occurrence of TDH-associated ability to aerobically metabolize L-tartrate in Bacillus isolates and limited resemblance of ycsA-encoded protein sequences with pTDH rendered Bacillus TDH as an intriguing enzyme with possible catalytic diversity as well as evolutionary significance. The present study explores substrate interactions of TDHs from B. subtilis 168 (168bTDH) and B. licheniformis DSM-13 (429bTDH) through kinetic, structural and molecular docking-based analysis. Heterologously expressed bTDHs, purified from insoluble fractions of E. coli BL21(DE3) cells, could significantly catalyze L-tartrate and meso-tartrate as substrates in forward reaction. Unlike pTDH, bTDHs distinctly and more efficiently catalyzed the reverse reaction using dihydroxyfumarate substrate following sigmoidal kinetics; the ability being ~ 4 fold higher in 168bTDH. Their binding energies predicted from molecular docking, further substantiated the relative substrate specificities, while revealing major residues involved in protein-ligand interactions at active site. The kinetic analysis and homology modelling validated using Ramachandran Plot analysis predicted a dimeric nature for bTDH. Collectively, the results highlight unique catalytic potential of phylogenetically recent bTDHs, offering an important protein engineering target to mediate efficient enantioselective enzymatic biotransformations.

Effects of CcpA against salt stress in Lactiplantibacillus plantarum as assessed by comparative transcriptional analysis

Lactiplantibacillus plantarum is frequently exposed to salt stress during industrial applications. Catabolite control protein (CcpA) controls the transcription of many genes, but its role in the response to salt stress remains unclear. In this study, we used transcriptome analyses to investigate differences in the logarithmic growth phases of Lactiplantibacillus plantarum ST-III and its ccpA-knockout mutant when grown with or without salt and glycine betaine (GB). The deletion of ccpA significantly affected bacterial growth under different conditions. Among the comparisons, the highest proportion of differentially expressed genes (64%) was observed in the comparison between the wild-type and ccpA mutant grown with NaCl, whereas the lowest proportion (6%) was observed in the comparison between the ccpA mutant strain cultures grown with NaCl alone or with GB together. Transcriptomic analyses showed that CcpA could regulate GB uptake, activate iron uptake, produce acetyl-CoA, and affect fatty acid composition to maintain membrane lipid homeostasis in the adaptation of high-salinity conditions. Conclusively, these results demonstrate the importance of CcpA as a master regulator of these processes in response to salt stress, and provide new insights into the complex regulatory network of lactic acid bacteria. KEY POINTS: • The absence of CcpA significantly affected growth of L. plantarum and its response to salt stress. • CcpA regulates compatible solutes absorption and ions transport to resist salt stress. • CcpA alters fatty acids composition to maintain membrane lipid homeostasis towards salt stress.

Physiological and transcriptomic analyses reveal CuO nanoparticle inhibition of anabolic and catabolic activities of sulfate-reducing bacterium

The widespread use of CuO nanoparticles (NPs) results in their continuous release into the environment, which could pose risks to public health and to microbial ecosystems. Following consumption, NPs will initially enter into sewer systems and interact with and potentially influence sewer microbial communities. An understanding of the response of microbes in sewers, particularly sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB), to the CuO NPs induced stress is important as hydrogen sulfide produced by SRB can cause sewer corrosion and odour emissions. In this study, we elucidated how the anabolic and catabolic processes of a model SRB, Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hidenborough (D. vulgaris), respond to CuO NPs. Physiological analyses indicated that the exposure of the culture to CuO NPs at elevated concentrations (>50 mg/L) inhibited both its anabolic and catabolic activities, as revealed by lowered cell proliferation and sulfate reduction rate. The antibacterial effects of CuO NPs were mainly attributed to the overproduction of reactive oxygen species. Transcriptomic analysis indicated that genes encoding for flagellar assembly and some genes involved in electron transfer and respiration were down-regulated, while genes for the ferric uptake regulator (Fur) were up-regulated. Moreover, the CuO NPs exposure significantly up-regulated genes involved in protein synthesis and ATP synthesis. These results suggest that CuO NPs inhibited energy conversion, cell mobility, and iron starvation to D. vulgaris. Meanwhile, D. vulgaris attempted to respond to the stress of CuO NPs by increasing protein and ATP synthesis. These findings offer new insights into the bacterial-nanoparticles interaction at the transcriptional level, and advance our understanding of impacts of CuO NPs on SRB in the environment.

The genes of the sulphoquinovose catabolism in Escherichia coli are also associated with a previously unknown pathway of lactose degradation

Comparative genomics analysis of conserved gene cassettes demonstrated resemblance between a recently described cassette of genes involved in sulphoquinovose degradation in Escherichia coli K-12 MG1655 and a Bacilli cassette linked with lactose degradation. Six genes from both cassettes had similar functions related to carbohydrate metabolism, namely, hydrolase, aldolase, kinase, isomerase, transporter, and transcription factor. The Escherichia coli sulphoglycolysis cassette was thus predicted to be associated with lactose degradation. This prediction was confirmed experimentally: expression of genes coding for aldolase (yihT), isomerase (yihS), and kinase (yihV) was dramatically increased during growth on lactose. These genes were previously shown to be activated during growth on sulphoquinovose, so our observation may indicate multi-functional capabilities of the respective proteins. Transcription starts for yihT, yihV and yihW were mapped in silico, in vitro and in vivo. Out of three promoters for yihT, one was active only during growth on lactose. We further showed that switches in yihT transcription are controlled by YihW, a DeoR-family transcription factor in the Escherichia coli cassette. YihW acted as a carbon source-dependent dual regulator involved in sustaining the baseline growth in the absence of lac-operon, with function either complementary, or opposite to a global regulator of carbohydrate metabolism, cAMP-CRP.

Concurrent metabolism of pentose and hexose sugars by the polyextremophile Alicyclobacillus acidocaldarius

Alicyclobacillus acidocaldarius is a thermoacidophilic bacterium capable of growth on sugars from plant biomass. Carbon catabolite repression (CCR) allows bacteria to focus cellular resources on a sugar that provides efficient growth, but also allows sequential, rather than simultaneous use when more than one sugar is present. The A. acidocaldarius genome encodes all components of CCR, but transporters encoded are multifacilitator superfamily and ATP-binding cassette-type transporters, uncommon for CCR. Therefore, global transcriptome analysis of A. acidocaldarius grown on xylose or fructose was performed in chemostats, followed by attempted induction of CCR with glucose or arabinose. Alicyclobacillus acidocaldarius grew while simultaneously metabolizing xylose and glucose, xylose and arabinose, and fructose and glucose, indicating that CCR did not control carbon metabolism. Microarrays showed down-regulation of genes during growth on one sugar compared to two, and occurred primarily in genes encoding: (1) regulators; (2) enzymes for cell wall synthesis; and (3) sugar transporters.

A Flexible Binding Site Architecture Provides New Insights into CcpA Global Regulation in Gram-Positive Bacteria

Catabolite control protein A (CcpA) is the master regulator in Gram-positive bacteria that mediates carbon catabolite repression (CCR) and carbon catabolite activation (CCA), two fundamental regulatory mechanisms that enable competitive advantages in carbon catabolism. It is generally regarded that CcpA exerts its regulatory role by binding to a typical 14- to 16-nucleotide (nt) consensus site that is called a catabolite response element (cre) within the target regions. However, here we report a previously unknown noncanonical flexible architecture of the CcpA-binding site in solventogenic clostridia, providing new mechanistic insights into catabolite regulation. This novel CcpA-binding site, named cre_var, has a unique architecture that consists of two inverted repeats and an intervening spacer, all of which are variable in nucleotide composition and length, except for a 6-bp core palindromic sequence (TGTAAA/TTTACA). It was found that the length of the intervening spacer of cre_var can affect CcpA binding affinity, and moreover, the core palindromic sequence of cre_var is the key structure for regulation. Such a variable architecture of cre_var shows potential importance for CcpA’s diverse and fine regulation. A total of 103 potential cre_var sites were discovered in solventogenic Clostridium acetobutylicum, of which 42 sites were picked out for electrophoretic mobility shift assays (EMSAs), and 30 sites were confirmed to be bound by CcpA. These 30 cre_var sites are associated with 27 genes involved in many important pathways. Also of significance, the cre_var sites are found to be widespread and function in a great number of taxonomically different Gram-positive bacteria, including pathogens, suggesting their global role in Gram-positive bacteria.

In Gram-positive bacteria, the global regulator CcpA controls a large number of important physiological and metabolic processes. Although a typical consensus CcpA-binding site, cre, has been identified, it remains poorly explored for the diversity of CcpA-mediated catabolite regulation. Here, we discovered a novel flexible CcpA-binding site architecture (cre_var) that is highly variable in both length and base composition but follows certain principles, providing new insights into how CcpA can differentially recognize a variety of target genes to form a complicated regulatory network. A comprehensive search further revealed the wide distribution of cre_var sites in Gram-positive bacteria, indicating it may have a universal function. This finding is the first to characterize such a highly flexible transcription factor-binding site architecture, which would be valuable for deeper understanding of CcpA-mediated global catabolite regulation in bacteria.

N-acetylglucosamine-Mediated Expression of nagA and nagB in Streptococcus pneumoniae

In this study, we have explored the transcriptomic response of Streptococcus pneumoniae D39 to N-acetylglucosamine (NAG). Transcriptome comparison of S. pneumoniae D39 wild-type grown in chemically defined medium (CDM) in the presence of 0.5% NAG to that grown in the presence of 0.5% glucose revealed elevated expression of many genes/operons, including nagA, nagB, manLMN, and nanP. We have further confirmed the NAG-dependent expression of nagA, nagB, manLMN, and nanP by β-galactosidase assays. nagA, nagB and glmS are putatively regulated by a transcriptional regulator NagR. We predicted the operator site of NagR (dre site) in PnagA, PnagB, and PglmS, which was further confirmed by mutating the predicted dre site in the respective promoters (nagA, nagB, and glmS). Growth comparison of ΔnagA, ΔnagB, and ΔglmS with the D39 wild-type demonstrates that nagA and nagB are essential for S. pneumoniae D39 to grow in the presence of NAG as a sole carbon source. Furthermore, deletion of ccpA shows that CcpA has no effect on the expression of nagA, nagB, and glmS in the presence of NAG in S. pneumoniae.

N-acetylgalatosamine-Mediated Regulation of the aga Operon by AgaR in Streptococcus pneumoniae

Here, we analyze the transcriptomic response of Streptococcus pneumoniae D39 to N-acetylgalactosamine (NAGa). Transcriptome comparison of S. pneumoniae D39 grown in NAGaM17 (0.5% NAGa + M17) to that grown in GM17 (0.5% Glucose + M17) revealed the elevated expression of various carbon metabolic genes/operons, including a PTS operon (denoted here as the aga operon), which is putatively involved in NAGa transport and utilization, in the presence of NAGa. We further studied the role of a GntR-family transcriptional regulator (denoted here as AgaR) in the regulation of aga operon. Our transcriptome and RT-PCR data suggest the role of AgaR as a transcriptional repressor of the aga operon. We predicted a 20-bp operator site of AagR (5′-ATAATTAATATAACAACAAA-3′) in the promoter region of the aga operon (PbgaC), which was further verified by mutating the AgaR operator site in the respective promoter. The role of CcpA in the additional regulation of the aga operon was elucidated by further transcriptome analyses and confirmed by quantitative RT-PCR.

Transcriptional Profile of Bacillus subtilis sigF-Mutant during Vegetative Growth

Sigma factor F is the first forespore specific transcription factor in Bacillus subtilis and controls genes required for the early stages of prespore development. The role of sigF is well studied under conditions that induce sporulation. Here, the impact of sigF disruption on the transcriptome of exponentially growing cultures is studied by micro-array analysis. Under these conditions that typically don’t induce sporulation, the transcriptome showed minor signs of sporulation initiation. The number of genes differentially expressed and the magnitude of expression were, as expected, quite small in comparison with sporulation conditions. The genes mildly down-regulated were mostly involved in anabolism and the genes mildly up-regulated, in particular fatty acid degradation genes, were mostly involved in catabolism. This is probably related to the arrest at sporulation stage II occurring in the sigF mutant, because continuation of growth from the formed disporic sporangia may require additional energy. The obtained knowledge is relevant for various experiments, such as industrial fermentation, prolonged experimental evolution or zero-growth studies, where sporulation is an undesirable trait that should be avoided, e.g by a sigF mutation.

Probing the regulatory effects of specific mutations in three major binding domains of the pleiotropic regulator CcpA of Bacillus subtilis

Carbon catabolite control is required for efficient use of available carbon sources to ensure rapid growth of bacteria. CcpA is a global regulator of carbon metabolism in Gram-positive bacteria like Bacillus subtilis. In this study the genome-wide gene regulation of a CcpA knockout and three specific CcpA mutants were studied by transcriptome analysis, to further elucidate the function of specific binding sites in CcpA. The following three amino acids were mutated to characterize their function: M17(R) which is involved in DNA binding, T62(H) which is important for the allosteric switch in CcpA upon HPr-Ser46-P binding, and R304(W) which is important for binding of the coeffectors HPr-Ser46-P and fructose-1,6-bisphosphate. The results confirm that CcpA was also involved in gene regulation in the absence of glucose. CcpA-M17R showed a small relief of Carbon Catabolite Control; the CcpA-M17R mutant regulates fewer genes than the CcpA-wt and the palindromicity of the cre site is less important for CcpA-M17R. CcpA-T62H was a stronger repressor than CcpA-wt and also acted as a strong repressor in the absence of glucose. CcpA-R304W was shown here to be less dependent on HPr-Ser46-P for its carbon catabolite control activities. The results presented here provide detailed information on alterations in gene regulation for each CcpA-mutant.

Maltose-Dependent Transcriptional Regulation of the mal Regulon by MalR in Streptococcus pneumoniae

The maltose regulon (mal regulon) has previously been shown to consist of the mal gene cluster (malMP, malXCD and malAR operons) in Streptococcus pneumoniae. In this study, we have further elucidated the complete mal regulon in S. pneumoniae D39 using microarray analyses and β-galactosidase assays. In addition to the mal gene cluster, the complete mal regulon of S. pneumoniae D39 consists of a pullulanase (PulA), a glucosidase (DexB), a glucokinase (RokB), a PTS component (PtsG) and an amylase (AmyA2). Our microarray studies and β-galactosidase assays further showed that the LacI-family transcriptional regulator MalR represses the expression of the mal regulon in the absence of maltose. Furthermore, the role of the pleiotropic transcriptional regulator CcpA in the regulation of the mal regulon in the presence of maltose was explored. Our microarray analysis with a ΔccpA strain showed that CcpA only represses the expression of the malXCD operon and the pulA gene in the presence of maltose. Hence, we extend the mal regulon now consisting of pulA, dexB, rokB, ptsG and amyA2 in addition to malMP, malXCD and malAR operons.

Investigation into the role of catabolite control protein A in the metabolic regulation of Streptococcus suis serotype 2 using gene expression profile analysis

Catabolite control protein A (CcpA) serves a key function in the catabolism of Streptococcus suis serotype 2 (S. suis 2) by affecting the biological function and metabolic regulatory mechanisms of this bacterium. The aim of the present study was to identify variations in CcpA expression in S. suis 2 using gene expression profile analysis. Using sequencing and functional analysis, CcpA was demonstrated to play a regulatory role in the expression and regulation of virulence genes, carbon metabolism and immunoregulation in S. suis 2. Gene Ontology and Kyto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes analyses indicated that CcpA in S. suis 2 is involved in the regulation of multiple metabolic processes. Furthermore, combined analysis of the transcriptome and metabolite data suggested that metabolites varied due to the modulation of gene expression levels under the influence of CcpA regulation. In addition, metabolic network analysis indicated that CcpA impacted carbon metabolism to a certain extent. Therefore, the present study has provided a more comprehensive analysis of the role of CcpA in the metabolic regulation of S. suis 2, which may facilitate future investigation into this mechanism. Furthermore, the results of the present study provide a foundation for further research into the regulatory function of CcpA and associated metabolic pathways in S. suis 2.

Sialic acid-mediated gene expression in Streptococcus pneumoniae and role of NanR as a transcriptional activator of the nan gene cluster

In this study, we investigated the transcriptomic response of Streptococcus pneumoniae D39 to sialic acid (N-acetylneuraminic acid [Neu5Ac]). Transcriptome comparison of wild-type D39 grown in M17 medium with and without sialic acid revealed the elevated expression of various genes and operons, including the nan gene cluster (nan operon I and nanA gene). Our microarray analysis and promoter-lacZ fusion studies showed that the transcriptional regulator NanR acts as a transcriptional activator of nan operon I and the nanA gene in the presence of sialic acid. The putative regulatory site of NanR in the promoter region of nan operon I is predicted and confirmed by promoter truncation experiments. Furthermore, the role of CcpA in the regulation of the nan gene cluster is demonstrated through microarray analysis and promoter-lacZ fusion studies, suggesting that in the presence of sialic acid and glucose, CcpA represses the expression of nan operon I while the expression of the nanA gene is CcpA independent.

Ascorbic acid-dependent gene expression in Streptococcus pneumoniae and the activator function of the transcriptional regulator UlaR2

In this study, we have explored the impact of ascorbic acid on the transcriptome of Streptococcus pneumoniae D39. The expression of several genes and operons, including the ula operon (which has been previously shown to be involved in ascorbic acid utilization), the AdcR regulon (which has been previously shown to be involved in zinc transport and virulence) and a PTS operon (which we denote here as ula2 operon) were altered in the presence of ascorbic acid. The ula2 operon consists of five genes, including the transcriptional activator ulaR2. Our β-galactosidase assay data and transcriptome comparison of the ulaR2 mutant with the wild-type demonstrated that the transcriptional activator UlaR2 in the presence of ascorbic acid activates the expression of the ula2 operon. We further predict a 16-bp regulatory site (5′-ATATTGTGCTCAAATA-3′) for UlaR2 in the Pula2. Furthermore, we have explored the effect of ascorbic acid on the expression of the AdcR regulon. Our ICP-MS analysis showed that addition of ascorbic acid to the medium causes zinc starvation in the cell which leads to the activation of the AdcR regulon.

Physiological and cell morphology adaptation of Bacillus subtilis at near-zero specific growth rates: a transcriptome analysis

Nutrient scarcity is a common condition in nature, but the resulting extremely low growth rates (below 0.025 h(-1) ) are an unexplored research area in Bacillus subtilis. To understand microbial life in natural environments, studying the adaptation of B. subtilis to near-zero growth conditions is relevant. To this end, a chemostat modified for culturing an asporogenous B. subtilis sigF mutant strain at extremely low growth rates (also named a retentostat) was set up, and biomass accumulation, culture viability, metabolite production and cell morphology were analysed. During retentostat culturing, the specific growth rate decreased to a minimum of 0.00006 h(-1) , corresponding to a doubling time of 470 days. The energy distribution between growth and maintenance-related processes showed that a state of near-zero growth was reached. Remarkably, a filamentous cell morphology emerged, suggesting that cell separation is impaired under near-zero growth conditions. To evaluate the corresponding molecular adaptations to extremely low specific growth, transcriptome changes were analysed. These revealed that cellular responses to near-zero growth conditions share several similarities with those of cells during the stationary phase of batch growth. However, fundamental differences between these two non-growing states are apparent by their high viability and absence of stationary phase mutagenesis under near-zero growth conditions.

LacR is a repressor of lacABCD and LacT is an activator of lacTFEG, constituting the lac gene cluster in Streptococcus pneumoniae

Comparison of the transcriptome of Streptococcus pneumoniae strain D39 grown in the presence of either lactose or galactose with that of the strain grown in the presence of glucose revealed the elevated expression of various genes and operons, including the lac gene cluster, which is organized into two operons, i.e., lac operon I (lacABCD) and lac operon II (lacTFEG). Deletion of the DeoR family transcriptional regulator lacR that is present downstream of the lac gene cluster revealed elevated expression of lac operon I even in the absence of lactose. This suggests a function of LacR as a transcriptional repressor of lac operon I, which encodes enzymes involved in the phosphorylated tagatose pathway in the absence of lactose or galactose. Deletion of lacR did not affect the expression of lac operon II, which encodes a lactose-specific phosphotransferase. This finding was further confirmed by β-galactosidase assays with PlacA-lacZ and PlacT-lacZ in the presence of either lactose or glucose as the sole carbon source in the medium. This suggests the involvement of another transcriptional regulator in the regulation of lac operon II, which is the BglG-family transcriptional antiterminator LacT. We demonstrate the role of LacT as a transcriptional activator of lac operon II in the presence of lactose and CcpA-independent regulation of the lac gene cluster in S. pneumoniae.

Exposure of Bacillus subtilis to low pressure (5 kilopascals) induces several global regulons, including those involved in the SigB-mediated general stress response

Studies of how microorganisms respond to pressure have been limited mostly to the extreme high pressures of the deep sea (i.e., the piezosphere). In contrast, despite the fact that the growth of most bacteria is inhibited at pressures below ∼2.5 kPa, little is known of microbial responses to low pressure (LP). To study the global LP response, we performed transcription microarrays on Bacillus subtilis cells grown under normal atmospheric pressure (∼101 kPa) and a nearly inhibitory LP (5 kPa), equivalent to the pressure found at an altitude of ∼20 km. Microarray analysis revealed altered levels of 363 transcripts belonging to several global regulons (AbrB, CcpA, CodY, Fur, IolR, ResD, Rok, SigH, Spo0A). Notably, the highest number of upregulated genes, 86, belonged to the SigB-mediated general stress response (GSR) regulon. Upregulation of the GSR by LP was confirmed by monitoring the expression of the SigB-dependent ctc-lacZ reporter fusion. Measuring transcriptome changes resulting from exposure of bacterial cells to LP reveals insights into cellular processes that may respond to LP exposure.

The CcpA regulon of Streptococcus suis reveals novel insights into the regulation of the streptococcal central carbon metabolism by binding of CcpA to two distinct binding motifs

Streptococcus suis (S. suis) is a neglected zoonotic streptococcus causing fatal diseases in humans and in pigs. The transcriptional regulator CcpA (catabolite control protein A) is involved in the metabolic adaptation to different carbohydrate sources and virulence of S. suis and other pathogenic streptococci. In this study, we determined the DNA binding characteristics of CcpA and identified the CcpA regulon during growth of S. suis. Electrophoretic mobility shift analyses showed promiscuous DNA binding of CcpA to cognate cre sites in vitro. In contrast, sequencing of immunoprecipitated chromatin revealed two specific consensus motifs, a pseudo-palindromic cre motif (WWGAAARCGYTTTCWW) and a novel cre2 motif (TTTTYHWDHHWWTTTY), within the regulatory elements of the genes directly controlled by CcpA. Via these elements CcpA regulates expression of genes involved in carbohydrate uptake and conversion, and in addition in important metabolic pathways of the central carbon metabolism, like glycolysis, mixed-acid fermentation, and the fragmentary TCA cycle. Furthermore, our analyses provide evidence that CcpA regulates the genes of the central carbon metabolism by binding either the pseudo-palindromic cre motif or the cre2 motif in a HPr(Ser)∼P independent conformation.

The γ-aminobutyrate permease GabP serves as the third proline transporter of Bacillus subtilis

PutP and OpuE serve as proline transporters when this imino acid is used by Bacillus subtilis as a nutrient or as an osmostress protectant, respectively. The simultaneous inactivation of the PutP and OpuE systems still allows the utilization of proline as a nutrient. This growth phenotype pointed to the presence of a third proline transport system in B. subtilis. We took advantage of the sensitivity of a putP opuE double mutant to the toxic proline analog 3,4-dehydro-dl-proline (DHP) to identify this additional proline uptake system. DHP-resistant mutants were selected and found to be defective in the use of proline as a nutrient. Whole-genome resequencing of one of these strains provided the lead that the inactivation of the γ-aminobutyrate (GABA) transporter GabP was responsible for these phenotypes. DNA sequencing of the gabP gene in 14 additionally analyzed DHP-resistant strains confirmed this finding. Consistently, each of the DHP-resistant mutants was defective not only in the use of proline as a nutrient but also in the use of GABA as a nitrogen source. The same phenotype resulted from the targeted deletion of the gabP gene in a putP opuE mutant strain. Hence, the GabP carrier not only serves as an uptake system for GABA but also functions as the third proline transporter of B. subtilis. Uptake studies with radiolabeled GABA and proline confirmed this conclusion and provided information on the kinetic parameters of the GabP carrier for both of these substrates.

Cellobiose-mediated gene expression in Streptococcus pneumoniae: a repressor function of the novel GntR-type regulator BguR

The human pathogen Streptococcus pneumoniae has the ability to use the carbon- and energy source cellobiose due to the presence of a cellobiose-utilizing gene cluster (cel locus) in its genome. This system is regulated by the cellobiose-dependent transcriptional activator CelR, which has been previously shown to contribute to pneumococcal virulence. To get a broader understanding of the response of S. pneumoniae to cellobiose, we compared the pneumococcal transcriptome during growth on glucose as the main carbon source to that with cellobiose as the main carbon source. The expression of various carbon metabolic genes was altered, including a PTS operon (which we here denote as the bgu operon) that has high similarity with the cel locus. In contrast to the cel locus, the bgu operon is conserved in all sequenced strains of S. pneumoniae, indicating an important physiological function in the lifestyle of pneumococci. We next characterized the transcriptional regulation of the bgu operon in more detail. Its expression was increased in the presence of cellobiose, and decreased in the presence of glucose. A novel GntR-type transcriptional regulator (which we here denote as BguR) was shown to act as a transcriptional repressor of the bgu operon and its repressive effect was relieved in the presence of cellobiose. BguR-dependent repression was demonstrated to be mediated by a 20-bp DNA operator site (5′-AAAAATGTCTAGACAAATTT-3′) present in PbguA, as verified by promoter truncation experiments. In conclusion, we have identified a new cellobiose-responsive PTS operon, together with its transcriptional regulator in S. pneumoniae.

The Bacillus subtilis response regulator gene degU is positively regulated by CcpA and by catabolite-repressed synthesis of ClpC

In Bacillus subtilis, the response regulator DegU and its cognate kinase, DegS, constitute a two-component system that regulates many cellular processes, including exoprotease production and genetic competence. Phosphorylated DegU (DegU-P) activates its own promoter and is degraded by the ClpCP protease. We observed induction of degU by glucose in sporulation medium. This was abolished in two mutants: the ccpA (catabolite control protein A) and clpC disruptants. Transcription of the promoter of the operon containing clpC (PclpC) decreased in the presence of glucose, and the disruption of ccpA resulted in derepression of PclpC. However, this was not directly mediated by CcpA, because we failed to detect binding of CcpA to PclpC. Glucose decreased the expression of clpC, leading to low cellular concentrations of the ClpCP protease. Thus, degU is induced through activation of autoregulation by a decrease in ClpCP-dependent proteolysis of DegU-P. An electrophoretic mobility shift assay showed that CcpA bound directly to the degU upstream region, indicating that CcpA activates degU through binding. The bound region was narrowed down to 27 bases, which contained a cre (catabolite-responsive element) sequence with a low match to the cre consensus sequence. In a footprint analysis, CcpA specifically protected a region containing the cre sequence from DNase I digestion. The induction of degU by glucose showed complex regulation of the degU gene.

Single cell analysis of gene expression patterns during carbon starvation in Bacillus subtilis reveals large phenotypic variation

How cells dynamically respond to fluctuating environmental conditions depends on the architecture and noise of the underlying genetic circuits. Most work characterizing stress pathways in the model bacterium Bacillus subtilis has been performed on bulk cultures using ensemble assays. However, investigating the single cell response to stress is important since noise might generate significant phenotypic heterogeneity. Here, we study the stress response to carbon source starvation and compare both population and single cell data. Using a top-down approach, we investigate the transcriptional dynamics of various stress-related genes of B. subtilis in response to carbon source starvation and to increased cell density. Our data reveal that most of the tested gene-regulatory networks respond highly heterogeneously to starvation and cells show a large degree of variation in gene expression. The level of highly dynamic diversification within B. subtilis populations under changing environments reflects the necessity to study cells at the single cell level.

High- and low-affinity cre boxes for CcpA binding in Bacillus subtilis revealed by genome-wide analysis

BACKGROUND

In Bacillus subtilis and its relatives carbon catabolite control, a mechanism enabling to reach maximal efficiency of carbon and energy sources metabolism, is achieved by the global regulator CcpA (carbon catabolite protein A). CcpA in a complex with HPr-Ser-P (seryl-phosphorylated form of histidine-containing protein, HPr) binds to operator sites called catabolite responsive elements, cre. Depending on the cre box position relative to the promoter, the CcpA/HPr-Ser-P complex can either act as a positive or a negative regulator. The cre boxes are highly degenerate semi-palindromes with a lowly conserved consensus sequence. So far, studies aimed at revealing how CcpA can bind such diverse sites were focused on the analysis of single cre boxes. In this study, a genome-wide analysis of cre sites was performed in order to identify differences in cre sequence and position, which determine their binding affinity.

RESULTS

The transcriptomes of B. subtilis cultures with three different CcpA expression levels were compared. The higher the amount of CcpA in the cells, the more operons possessing cre sites were differentially regulated. The cre boxes that mediated regulation at low CcpA levels were designated as strong (high affinity) and those which responded only to high amounts of CcpA, as weak (low affinity). Differences in the sequence and position in relation to the transcription start site between strong and weak cre boxes were revealed.

CONCLUSIONS

Certain residues at specific positions in the cre box as well as, to a certain extent, a more palindromic nature of cre sequences and the location of cre in close vicinity to the transcription start site contribute to the strength of CcpA-dependent regulation. The main factors contributing to cre regulatory efficiencies, enabling subtle differential control of various subregulons of the CcpA regulon, are identified.

Comparative transcriptional analysis of Bacillus subtilis cells overproducing either secreted proteins, lipoproteins or membrane proteins

Background

Bacillus subtilis is a favorable host for the production of industrially relevant proteins because of its capacity of secreting proteins into the medium to high levels, its GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) status, its genetic accessibility and its capacity to grow in large fermentations. However, production of heterologous proteins still faces limitations.

Results

This study aimed at the identification of bottlenecks in secretory protein production by analyzing the response of B. subtilis at the transcriptome level to overproduction of eight secretory proteins of endogenous and heterologous origin and with different subcellular or extracellular destination: secreted proteins (NprE and XynA of B. subtilis, Usp45 of Lactococcus lactis, TEM-1 β-lactamase of Escherichia coli), membrane proteins (LmrA of L. lactis and XylP of Lactobacillus pentosus) and lipoproteins (MntA and YcdH of B. subtilis). Responses specific for proteins with a common localization as well as more general stress responses were observed. The latter include upregulation of genes encoding intracellular stress proteins (groES/EL, CtsR regulated genes). Specific responses include upregulation of the liaIHGFSR operon under Usp45 and TEM-1 β-lactamase overproduction; cssRS, htrA and htrB under all secreted proteins overproduction; sigW and SigW-regulated genes mainly under membrane proteins overproduction; and ykrL (encoding an HtpX homologue) specifically under membrane proteins overproduction.

Conclusions

The results give better insights into B. subtilis responses to protein overproduction stress and provide potential targets for genetic engineering in order to further improve B. subtilis as a protein production host.

Regulation of arginine acquisition and virulence gene expression in the human pathogen Streptococcus pneumoniae by transcription regulators ArgR1 and AhrC

In this study, we investigated for the first time the transcriptional response of the human pathogen Streptococcus pneumoniae to fluctuating concentrations of arginine, an essential amino acid for this bacterium. By means of DNA microarray analyses, several operons and genes were found, the expression of which was affected by the concentration of arginine in the medium. Five of the identified operons were demonstrated to be directly repressed in the presence of high arginine concentrations via the concerted action of the ArgR-type regulators ArgR1 and AhrC. These ArgR1/AhrC targets encompass the putative amino acid transport genes artPQ, abpA, abpB, and aapA; the arginine biosynthetic genes argGH; and the virulence genes aliB and lmB/adcAII-phtD encoding an oligopeptide-binding lipoprotein and cell surface Zn(2+)-scavenging units, respectively. In addition, the data indicate that three of the amino acid transport genes encode an arginine ATP-binding cassette transporter unit required for efficient growth during arginine limitation. Instead of regulating arginine biosynthetic and catabolic genes as has been reported for other Gram-positive bacteria, our findings suggest that the physiological function of ArgR1/AhrC in S. pneumoniae is to ensure optimal uptake of arginine from the surrounding milieu.

Time-resolved transcriptomics and bioinformatic analyses reveal intrinsic stress responses during batch culture of Bacillus subtilis

We have determined the time-resolved transcriptome of the model gram-positive organism B. subtilis during growth in a batch fermentor on rich medium. DNA microarrays were used to monitor gene transcription using 10-minute intervals at 40 consecutive time points. From the growth curve and analysis of all gene expression levels, we identified 4 distinct growth phases and one clear transition point: a lag phase, an exponential growth phase, the transition point and the very clearly separated early and late stationary growth phases. The gene expression profiles suggest the occurrence of stress responses at specific times although no external stresses were applied. The first one is a small induction of the SigB regulon that occurs at the transition point. Remarkably, a very strong response is observed for the SigW regulon, which is highly upregulated at the onset of the late stationary phase. Bioinformatic analyses that were performed on our data set suggest several novel putative motifs for regulator binding. In addition, the expression profiles of several genes appeared to correlate with the oxygen concentration. This data set of the expression profiles of all B. subtilis genes during the entire growth curve on rich medium constitutes a rich repository that can be further mined by the scientific community.

CcpA ensures optimal metabolic fitness of Streptococcus pneumoniae

In gram-positive bacteria, the transcriptional regulator CcpA is at the core of catabolite control mechanisms. In the human pathogen Streptococcus pneumoniae, links between CcpA and virulence have been established, but its role as a master regulator in different nutritional environments remains to be elucidated. Thus, we performed whole-transcriptome and metabolic analyses of S. pneumoniae D39 and its isogenic ccpA mutant during growth on glucose or galactose, rapidly and slowly metabolized carbohydrates presumably encountered by the bacterium in different host niches. CcpA affected the expression of up to 19% of the genome covering multiple cellular processes, including virulence, regulatory networks and central metabolism. Its prevalent function as a repressor was observed on glucose, but unexpectedly also on galactose. Carbohydrate-dependent CcpA regulation was also observed, as for the tagatose 6-phosphate pathway genes, which were activated by galactose and repressed by glucose. Metabolite analyses revealed that two pathways for galactose catabolism are functionally active, despite repression of the Leloir genes by CcpA. Surprisingly, galactose-induced mixed-acid fermentation apparently required CcpA, since genes involved in this type of metabolism were mostly under CcpA-repression. These findings indicate that the role of CcpA extends beyond transcriptional regulation, which seemingly is overlaid by other regulatory mechanisms. In agreement, CcpA influenced the level of many intracellular metabolites potentially involved in metabolic regulation. Our data strengthen the view that a true understanding of cell physiology demands thorough analyses at different cellular levels. Moreover, integration of transcriptional and metabolic data uncovered a link between CcpA and the association of surface molecules (e.g. capsule) to the cell wall. Hence, CcpA may play a key role in mediating the interaction of S. pneumoniae with its host. Overall, our results support the hypothesis that S. pneumoniae optimizes basic metabolic processes, likely enhancing in vivo fitness, in a CcpA-mediated manner.

CelR-mediated activation of the cellobiose-utilization gene cluster in Streptococcus pneumoniae

The human pathogen Streptococcus pneumoniae harbours many genes encoding phosphotransferase systems and sugar ABC (ATP-binding cassette) transporters, including systems for the utilization of the β-glucoside sugar cellobiose. In this study, we show that the transcriptional regulator CelR, which has previously been found to be important for pneumococcal virulence, activates the expression of the cellobiose-utilization gene cluster (cel locus) of S. pneumoniae. Expression directed by the two promoters present in the cel locus was increased in the presence of cellobiose as sole carbon source in the medium, while expression decreased in the presence of glucose in the medium. Furthermore, we have predicted a 22 bp putative CelR regulatory site (5′-YTTTCCWTAWCAWTWAGGAAAA-3′) in the promoters of celA and celB, and in silico analysis showed that it is highly conserved in other pathogenic streptococci as well. Promoter truncations of celA and celB, where the half or full CelR regulatory site was deleted, confirmed that the CelR-binding site in PcelA and PcelB is functional. Transcriptome studies with the celR mutant and in silico prediction of the CelR regulatory site in the entire D39 genome sequence show that the cel locus is the only cluster of genes under the direct control of CelR. Therefore, CelR is a regulator dedicated to the cellobiose-dependent transcriptional activation of the cel locus.

Indirect repression by Bacillus subtilis CodY via displacement of the activator of the proline utilization operon

Proline is an efficient source of both carbon and nitrogen for many bacterial species. In Bacillus subtilis, the proline utilization pathway, encoded by the putBCP operon, is inducible by proline. Here, we show that this induction is mediated by PutR, a proline-responsive transcriptional activator of the PucR family. When other amino acids are present in the medium, proline utilization is prioritized through transient repression by CodY, a global transcriptional regulator in Gram-positive bacteria that responds to amino acid availability. CodY-mediated repression of the putBCP operon has two novel features. First, repression requires the cooperative binding of CodY to at least two adjacent motifs. Second, though CodY binds to the region that overlaps the putB promoter, repression is due to displacement of PutR rather than competition with RNA polymerase.

Evolutionary history and functional characterization of three large genes involved in sporulation in Bacillus cereus group bacteria

The Bacillus cereus group of bacteria is a group of closely related species that are of medical and economic relevance, including B. anthracis, B. cereus, and B. thuringiensis. Bacteria from the Bacillus cereus group encode three large, highly conserved genes of unknown function (named crdA, crdB, and crdC) that are composed of 16 to 35 copies of a repeated domain of 132 amino acids at the protein level. Bioinformatic analysis revealed that there is a phylogenetic bias in the genomic distribution of these genes and that strains harboring all three large genes mainly belong to cluster III of the B. cereus group phylogenetic tree. The evolutionary history of the three large genes implicates gain, loss, duplication, internal deletion, and lateral transfer. Furthermore, we show that the transcription of previously identified antisense open reading frames in crdB is simultaneously regulated with its host gene throughout the life cycle in vitro, with the highest expression being at the onset of sporulation. In B. anthracis, different combinations of double- and triple-knockout mutants of the three large genes displayed slower and less efficient sporulation processes than the parental strain. Altogether, the functional studies suggest an involvement of these three large genes in the sporulation process.

Regulon of the N-acetylglucosamine utilization regulator NagR in Bacillus subtilis

N-Acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) is the most abundant carbon-nitrogen biocompound on earth and has been shown to be an important source of nutrients for both catabolic and anabolic purposes in Bacillus species. In this work we show that the GntR family regulator YvoA of Bacillus subtilis serves as a negative transcriptional regulator of GlcNAc catabolism gene expression. YvoA represses transcription by binding a 16-bp sequence upstream of nagP encoding the GlcNAc-specific EIIBC component of the sugar phosphotransferase system involved in GlcNAc transport and phosphorylation, as well as another very similar 16-bp sequence upstream of the nagAB-yvoA locus, wherein nagA codes for N-acetylglucosamine-6-phosphate deacetylase and nagB codes for the glucosamine-6-phosphate (GlcN-6-P) deaminase. In vitro experiments demonstrated that GlcN-6-P acts as an inhibitor of YvoA DNA-binding activity, as occurs for its Streptomyces ortholog, DasR. Interestingly, we observed that the expression of nag genes was still activated upon addition of GlcNAc in a ΔyvoA mutant background, suggesting the existence of an auxiliary transcriptional control instance. Initial computational prediction of the YvoA regulon showed a distribution of YvoA binding sites limited to nag genes and therefore suggests renaming YvoA to NagR, for N-acetylglucosamine utilization regulator. Whole-transcriptome studies showed significant repercussions of nagR deletion for several major B. subtilis regulators, probably indirectly due to an excess of the crucial molecules acetate, ammonia, and fructose-6-phosphate, resulting from complete hydrolysis of GlcNAc. We discuss a model deduced from NagR-mediated gene expression, which highlights clear connections with pathways for GlcNAc-containing polymer biosynthesis and adaptation to growth under oxygen limitation.

Production of microbial secondary metabolites: regulation by the carbon source

Microbial secondary metabolites are low molecular mass products, not essential for growth of the producing cultures, but very important for human health. They include antibiotics, antitumor agents, cholesterol-lowering drugs, and others. They have unusual structures and are usually formed during the late growth phase of the producing microorganisms. Its synthesis can be influenced greatly by manipulating the type and concentration of the nutrients formulating the culture media. Among these nutrients, the effect of the carbon sources has been the subject of continuous studies for both, industry and research groups. Different mechanisms have been described in bacteria and fungi to explain the negative carbon catabolite effects on secondary metabolite production. Their knowledge and manipulation have been useful either for setting fermentation conditions or for strain improvement. During the last years, important advances have been reported on these mechanisms at the biochemical and molecular levels. The aim of the present review is to describe these advances, giving special emphasis to those reported for the genus Streptomyces.

CcpA and LacD.1 affect temporal regulation of Streptococcus pyogenes virulence genes

Production of H(2)O(2) follows a growth phase-dependent pattern that mimics that of many virulence factors of Streptococcus pyogenes. To gain greater insight into mechanisms coupling virulence factor expression to growth phase, we investigated the molecular basis for H(2)O(2) generation and its regulation. Deletion of the gene encoding lactate oxidase (lctO) or culture in the presence of glucose eliminated H(2)O(2) production, implicating carbohydrate regulation of lctO as a key element of growth phase control. In examining known carbohydrate-responsive regulators, deletion of the gene encoding CcpA but not that encoding LacD.1 resulted in both derepression and an uncoupling of lctO transcription from its growth phase pattern. Expanding this analysis to additional virulence factors demonstrated both negative (cfa, encoding CAMP factor) and positive (speB, encoding a cysteine protease) regulation by CcpA and that CcpA mutants were highly cytotoxic for cultured macrophages. This latter property resulted from enhanced transcription of the streptolysin S biogenesis operon. Examination of CcpA-promoter interactions using a DNA pull-down assay mimicking physiological conditions showed direct binding to the promoters of lctO and speB but not those of sagA. CcpA but not LacD.1 mutants were attenuated in a murine model of soft-tissue infection, and analysis of gene expression in infected tissue indicated that CcpA mutants had altered expression of lctO, cfa, and speB but not the indirectly regulated sagA gene. Taken together, these data show that CcpA regulates virulence genes via at least three distinct mechanisms and that disruption of growth phase regulation alters transcriptional patterns in infected tissues.

Time-resolved transcriptome analysis of Bacillus subtilis responding to valine, glutamate, and glutamine

Microorganisms can restructure their transcriptional output to adapt to environmental conditions by sensing endogenous metabolite pools. In this paper, an Agilent customized microarray representing 4,106 genes was used to study temporal transcript profiles of Bacillus subtilis in response to valine, glutamate and glutamine pulses over 24 h. A total of 673, 835, and 1135 amino-acid-regulated genes were identified having significantly changed expression at one or more time points in response to valine, glutamate, and glutamine, respectively, including genes involved in cell wall, cellular import, metabolism of amino-acids and nucleotides, transcriptional regulation, flagellar motility, chemotaxis, phage proteins, sporulation, and many genes of unknown function. Different amino acid treatments were compared in terms of both the global temporal profiles and the 5-minute quick regulations, and between-experiment differential genes were identified. The highlighted genes were analyzed based on diverse sources of gene functions using a variety of computational tools, including T-profiler analysis, and hierarchical clustering. The results revealed the common and distinct modes of action of these three amino acids, and should help to elucidate the specific signaling mechanism of each amino acid as an effector.

Mechanisms and evolution of control logic in prokaryotic transcriptional regulation

A major part of organismal complexity and versatility of prokaryotes resides in their ability to fine-tune gene expression to adequately respond to internal and external stimuli. Evolution has been very innovative in creating intricate mechanisms by which different regulatory signals operate and interact at promoters to drive gene expression. The regulation of target gene expression by transcription factors (TFs) is governed by control logic brought about by the interaction of regulators with TF binding sites (TFBSs) in cis-regulatory regions. A factor that in large part determines the strength of the response of a target to a given TF is motif stringency, the extent to which the TFBS fits the optimal TFBS sequence for a given TF. Advances in high-throughput technologies and computational genomics allow reconstruction of transcriptional regulatory networks in silico. To optimize the prediction of transcriptional regulatory networks, i.e., to separate direct regulation from indirect regulation, a thorough understanding of the control logic underlying the regulation of gene expression is required. This review summarizes the state of the art of the elements that determine the functionality of TFBSs by focusing on the molecular biological mechanisms and evolutionary origins of cis-regulatory regions.

Effect of a glucose impulse on the CcpA regulon in Staphylococcus aureus

Background

The catabolite control protein A (CcpA) is a member of the LacI/GalR family of transcriptional regulators controlling carbon-metabolism pathways in low-GC Gram-positive bacteria. It functions as a catabolite repressor or activator, allowing the bacteria to utilize the preferred carbon source over secondary carbon sources. This study is the first CcpA-dependent transcriptome and proteome analysis in Staphylococcus aureus, focussing on short-time effects of glucose under stable pH conditions.

Results

The addition of glucose to exponentially growing S. aureus increased the expression of genes and enzymes of the glycolytic pathway, while genes and proteins of the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, required for the complete oxidation of glucose, were repressed via CcpA. Phosphotransacetylase and acetate kinase, converting acetyl-CoA to acetate with a concomitant substrate-level phosphorylation, were neither regulated by glucose nor by CcpA. CcpA directly repressed genes involved in utilization of amino acids as secondary carbon sources. Interestingly, the expression of a larger number of genes was found to be affected by ccpA inactivation in the absence of glucose than after glucose addition, suggesting that glucose-independent effects due to CcpA may have a particular impact in S. aureus. In the presence of glucose, CcpA was found to regulate the expression of genes involved in metabolism, but also that of genes coding for virulence determinants.

Conclusion

This study describes the CcpA regulon of exponentially growing S. aureus cells. As in other bacteria, CcpA of S. aureus seems to control a large regulon that comprises metabolic genes as well as virulence determinants that are affected in their expression by CcpA in a glucose-dependent as well as -independent manner.

MINOMICS: visualizing prokaryote transcriptomics and proteomics data in a genomic context

We have developed MINOMICS, a tool that allows facile and in-depth visualization of prokaryotic transcriptomic and proteomic data in conjunction with genomics data. MINOMICS generates interactive linear genome maps in which multiple experimental datasets are displayed together with operon, regulatory motif, transcriptional promoter and transcriptional terminator information.

AVAILABILITY

MINOMICS is freely accessible at http://www.minomics.nl

Carbon catabolite repression in Bacillus subtilis: quantitative analysis of repression exerted by different carbon sources

In many bacteria glucose is the preferred carbon source and represses the utilization of secondary substrates. In Bacillus subtilis, this carbon catabolite repression (CCR) is achieved by the global transcription regulator CcpA, whose activity is triggered by the availability of its phosphorylated cofactors, HPr(Ser46-P) and Crh(Ser46-P). Phosphorylation of these proteins is catalyzed by the metabolite-controlled kinase HPrK/P. Recent studies have focused on glucose as a repressing substrate. Here, we show that many carbohydrates cause CCR. The substrates form a hierarchy in their ability to exert repression via the CcpA-mediated CCR pathway. Of the two cofactors, HPr is sufficient for complete CCR. In contrast, Crh cannot substitute for HPr on substrates that cause a strong repression. Determination of the phosphorylation state of HPr in vivo revealed a correlation between the strength of repression and the degree of phosphorylation of HPr at Ser46. Sugars transported by the phosphotransferase system (PTS) cause the strongest repression. However, the phosphorylation state of HPr at its His15 residue and PTS transport activity have no impact on the global CCR mechanism, which is a major difference compared to the mechanism operative in Escherichia coli. Our data suggest that the hierarchy in CCR exerted by the different substrates is exclusively determined by the activity of HPrK/P.

Assessment of CcpA-mediated catabolite control of gene expression in Bacillus cereus ATCC 14579

Background

The catabolite control protein CcpA is a transcriptional regulator conserved in many Gram-positives, controlling the efficiency of glucose metabolism. Here we studied the role of Bacillus cereus ATCC 14579 CcpA in regulation of metabolic pathways and expression of enterotoxin genes by comparative transcriptome analysis of the wild-type and a ccpA-deletion strain.

Results

Comparative analysis revealed the growth performance and glucose consumption rates to be lower in the B. cereus ATCC 14579 ccpA deletion strain than in the wild-type. In exponentially grown cells, the expression of glycolytic genes, including a non-phosphorylating glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase that mediates conversion of D-glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate to 3-phospho-D-glycerate in one single step, was down-regulated and expression of gluconeogenic genes and genes encoding the citric acid cycle was up-regulated in the B. cereus ccpA deletion strain. Furthermore, putative CRE-sites, that act as binding sites for CcpA, were identified to be present for these genes. These results indicate CcpA to be involved in the regulation of glucose metabolism, thereby optimizing the efficiency of glucose catabolism. Other genes of which the expression was affected by ccpA deletion and for which putative CRE-sites could be identified, included genes with an annotated function in the catabolism of ribose, histidine and possibly fucose/arabinose and aspartate. Notably, expression of the operons encoding non-hemolytic enterotoxin (Nhe) and hemolytic enterotoxin (Hbl) was affected by ccpA deletion, and putative CRE-sites were identified, which suggests catabolite repression of the enterotoxin operons to be CcpA-dependent.

Conclusion

The catabolite control protein CcpA in B. cereus ATCC 14579 is involved in optimizing the catabolism of glucose with concomitant repression of gluconeogenesis and alternative metabolic pathways. Furthermore, the results point to metabolic control of enterotoxin gene expression and suggest that CcpA-mediated glucose sensing provides an additional mode of control in moderating the expression of the nhe and hbl operons in B. cereus ATCC 14579.

Transient heterogeneity in extracellular protease production by Bacillus subtilis

The most sophisticated survival strategy Bacillus subtilis employs is the differentiation of a subpopulation of cells into highly resistant endospores. To examine the expression patterns of non-sporulating cells within heterogeneous populations, we used buoyant density centrifugation to separate vegetative cells from endospore-containing cells and compared the transcriptome profiles of both subpopulations. This demonstrated the differential expression of various regulons. Subsequent single-cell analyses using promoter-gfp fusions confirmed our microarray results. Surprisingly, only part of the vegetative subpopulation highly and transiently expresses genes encoding the extracellular proteases Bpr (bacillopeptidase) and AprE (subtilisin), both of which are under the control of the DegU transcriptional regulator. As these proteases and their degradation products freely diffuse within the liquid growth medium, all cells within the clonal population are expected to benefit from their activities, suggesting that B. subtilis employs cooperative or even altruistic behavior. To unravel the mechanisms by which protease production heterogeneity within the non-sporulating subpopulation is established, we performed a series of genetic experiments combined with mathematical modeling. Simulations with our model yield valuable insights into how population heterogeneity may arise by the relatively long and variable response times within the DegU autoactivating pathway.

The role of DNA-binding specificity in the evolution of bacterial regulatory networks

Understanding the mechanisms by which transcriptional regulatory networks (TRNs) change through evolution is a fundamental problem.Here, we analyze this question using data from Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis, and find that paralogy relationships are insufficient to explain the global or local role observed for transcription factors (TFs) within regulatory networks. Our results provide a picture in which DNA-binding specificity, a molecular property that can be measured in different ways, is a predictor of the role of transcription factors. In particular, we observe that global regulators consistently display low levels of binding specificity, while displaying comparatively higher expression values in microarray experiments. In addition, we find a strong negative correlation between binding specificity and the number of co-regulators that help coordinate genetic expression on a genomic scale. A close look at several orthologous TFs,including FNR, a regulator found to be global in E. coli and local in B.subtilis, confirms the diagnostic value of specificity in order to understand their regulatory function, and highlights the importance of evaluating the metabolic and ecological relevance of effectors as another variable in the evolutionary equation of regulatory networks. Finally, a general model is presented that integrates some evolutionary forces and molecular properties,aiming to explain how regulons grow and shrink, as bacteria tune their regulation to increase adaptation.

Control of key metabolic intersections in Bacillus subtilis

The remarkable ability of bacteria to adapt efficiently to a wide range of nutritional environments reflects their use of overlapping regulatory systems that link gene expression to intracellular pools of a small number of key metabolites. By integrating the activities of global regulators, such as CcpA, CodY and TnrA, Bacillus subtilis manages traffic through two metabolic intersections that determine the flow of carbon and nitrogen to and from crucial metabolites, such as pyruvate, 2-oxoglutarate and glutamate. Here, the latest knowledge on the control of these key intersections in B. subtilis is reviewed.