A nitric oxide regulated small RNA controls expression of genes involved in redox homeostasis in Bacillus subtilis.
PLoS Genet 2015;
11:e1004957. [PMID:
25643072 PMCID:
PMC4409812 DOI:
10.1371/journal.pgen.1004957]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 61] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2014] [Accepted: 12/15/2014] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
RsaE is the only known trans-acting small regulatory RNA (sRNA) besides the ubiquitous 6S RNA that is conserved between the human pathogen Staphylococcus aureus and the soil-dwelling Firmicute Bacillus subtilis. Although a number of RsaE targets are known in S. aureus, neither the environmental signals that lead to its expression nor its physiological role are known. Here we show that expression of the B. subtilis homolog of RsaE is regulated by the presence of nitric oxide (NO) in the cellular milieu. Control of expression by NO is dependent on the ResDE two-component system in B. subtilis and we determined that the same is true in S. aureus. Transcriptome and proteome analyses revealed that many genes with functions related to oxidative stress and oxidation-reduction reactions were up-regulated in a B. subtilis strain lacking this sRNA. We have thus renamed it RoxS. The prediction of RoxS-dependent mRNA targets also suggested a significant enrichment for mRNAs related to respiration and electron transfer. Among the potential direct mRNA targets, we have validated the ppnKB mRNA, encoding an NAD+/NADH kinase, both in vivo and in vitro. RoxS controls both translation initiation and the stability of this transcript, in the latter case via two independent pathways implicating RNase Y and RNase III. Furthermore, RNase Y intervenes at an additional level by processing the 5′ end of the RoxS sRNA removing about 20 nucleotides. Processing of RoxS allows it to interact more efficiently with a second target, the sucCD mRNA, encoding succinyl-CoA synthase, thus expanding the repertoire of targets recognized by this sRNA.
Bacteria have evolved various strategies to continually monitor the redox state of the internal and external environments to prevent cell damage and/or to protect them from host defense mechanisms. These signals modify the expression of genes, allowing bacteria to adapt to altered redox environments and to maintain homeostasis. Studies in Enterobacteriaceae have shown that sRNAs play central roles in adaptation to oxidative stress. We show here that the conserved sRNA, RoxS is induced by the presence of nitric oxide (NO) in the medium, through the ResDE and SrrAB two-component systems of Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus, respectively. B. subtilis RoxS regulates functions related to oxidation-reduction reactions and acts as an antisense RNA to control translation initiation and the degradation of ppnKB mRNA, encoding an NAD+/NADH kinase. Interestingly, RNase Y processes the 5′ end of the RoxS sRNA leading to a truncated sRNA that in turn interacts more efficiently with a second target, the sucCD mRNA, encoding succinyl-CoA synthase. Taken together this work shows that RoxS is part of a complex regulatory network that allows the cell to sense and respond to redox perturbations, and revealed a novel process that allows an expansion of the repertoire of sRNA targets.
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