Mutation ofgdpS gene induces aviable butnon-culturable state inStaphylococcus epidermidis andchanges intheglobal transcriptional profle
Mutation ofgdpS gene induces aviable butnon-culturable state inStaphylococcus epidermidis andchanges intheglobal transcriptional profle
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DOI：
10.1186/s12866-022-02708-6
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发表时间：
2022
期刊：
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
Yang Wu
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Tao Zhu;Wei Wang;Han Wang;Yanfeng Zhao;Di Qu;Yang Wu
Background: In the genome of staphylococci, only the gdpS gene encodes the conserved GGDEF domain, which is the characteristic of diguanylate cyclases. In our previous study, we have demonstrated that the gdpS gene can modulate bioflm formation by positively regulating the expression of ica operon in Staphylococcus epidermidis. Moreover, this regulation seems to be independent of the c-di-GMP signaling pathway and the protein-coding function of this gene. Therefore, the biological function of the gdpS gene remains to be further investigated..Results: In the present study, it was observed that mutation of the gdpS gene induced S. epidermidis to enter into a presumed viable but nonculturable state (VBNC) after cryopreservation with glycerol. Similarly, when moved from liquid to solid culture medium, the gdpS mutant strain also exhibited a VBNC state. Compared with the wild-type strain, the gdpS mutant strain autolyzed more quickly during storage at 4℃, indicating its increased susceptibility to low temperature. Transcriptional profling analysis showed that the gdpS mutation afected the transcription of 188 genes (92 genes were upregulated and 96 genes were downregulated). Specifcally, genes responsible for glycerol metabolism were most markedly upregulated and most of the altered genes in the mutant strain are those involved in nitrogen metabolism. In addition, the most signifcantly downregulated genes included the betB gene, whose product catalyzes the synthesis of glycine betaine and confers tolerance to cold..Conclusion: The preliminary results suggest that the gdpS gene may participate in VBNC formation of S. epidermidis in face of adverse environmental factors, which is probably achieved by regulating expression of energy metabolism genes. Besides, the gdpS gene is critical for S. epidermidis to survive low temperature, and the underlying mechanism may be partly explained by its infuence on expression of betB gene.
