Characterisation of the regulatory function of the H-NS protein in the benthic bacterium Shewanella piezotolerans WP3 under cold conditions

FEMS Microbiol Lett. 2017 Feb 1;364(4). doi: 10.1093/femsle/fnx021.

Abstract

The histone-like nucleoid structuring (H-NS) protein is conserved in Gram-negative bacteria and plays important roles as a multifunctional bacterial modulator. However, its roles in deep-sea microorganisms warrant investigation. In this study, the relationship between temperature and the regulatory function of H-NS was characterised in the benthic bacterium Shewanella piezotolerans WP3. Comparative microarray analysis of the hns knockout mutant and wild-type strain identified a total of 264 differentially expressed genes at 4°C, which is significantly less than that at 20°C. Notably, H-NS was proved to be involved in the cold-mediated induction of lateral flagellar gene transcription. We further showed that the binding affinity of H-NS is higher at 4°C than 20°C, thus explaining the significant difference in the expression pattern at different temperatures.

Keywords: H-NS; deep sea; lateral flagella; low temperature; microarray.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Bacterial Proteins / genetics*
  • Cold Temperature*
  • DNA-Binding Proteins / genetics*
  • DNA-Binding Proteins / metabolism
  • Flagella / genetics
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial*
  • Gene Knockout Techniques
  • Geologic Sediments / microbiology*
  • Microarray Analysis
  • Mutation
  • Seawater / microbiology*
  • Shewanella / genetics*
  • Shewanella / metabolism

Substances

  • Bacterial Proteins
  • DNA-Binding Proteins
  • H-NS protein, bacteria