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Transcriptional Response of Rhodococcus aetherivorans I24 to Polychlorinated Biphenyl-Contaminated Sediments

  • Environmental Microbiology
  • Published:
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Abstract

We used a microarray targeting 3,524 genes to assess the transcriptional response of the actinomycete Rhodococcus aetherivorans I24 in minimal medium supplemented with various substrates (e.g., PCBs) and in both PCB-contaminated and non-contaminated sediment slurries. Relative to the reference condition (minimal medium supplemented with glucose), 408 genes were upregulated in the various treatments. In medium and in sediment, PCBs elicited the upregulation of a common set of 100 genes, including gene-encoding chaperones (groEL), a superoxide dismutase (sodA), alkyl hydroperoxide reductase protein C (ahpC), and a catalase/peroxidase (katG). Analysis of the R. aetherivorans I24 genome sequence identified orthologs of many of the genes in the canonical biphenyl pathway, but very few of these genes were upregulated in response to PCBs or biphenyl. This study is one of the first to use microarrays to assess the transcriptional response of a soil bacterium to a pollutant under conditions that more closely resemble the natural environment. Our results indicate that the transcriptional response of R. aetherivorans I24 to PCBs, in both medium and sediment, is primarily directed towards reducing oxidative stress, rather than catabolism.

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Abbreviations

PCBs:

Polychlorinated biphenyls

GLU:

Glucose control

BP:

Biphenyl

C:

Contaminated sediment

NC:

Non-contaminated sediment

LB:

Luria–Bertani Broth

MM:

Minimal medium

PBS:

Phosphate-buffered saline

COG:

Cluster of orthologous groups of proteins

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by IRG Marie Curie Grant “COMEHERE,” contract No. 21634, and by the Cambridge–MIT Institute.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Istituto di Chimica Agraria ed Ambientale, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Piacenza, Italy

    Edoardo Puglisi, Ettore Capri & Paolo Boccazzi

  2. Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Ave. 68-370A, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA

    Philip A. Lessard, Anthony J. Sinskey & Paolo Boccazzi

  3. Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3EH, UK

    Matt J. Cahill

  4. Computational Bioscience Research Center, Division of Chemical & Life Sciences Engineering 4700, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, 23955-6900, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

    John A. C. Archer

Authors
  1. Edoardo Puglisi
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  2. Matt J. Cahill
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  3. Philip A. Lessard
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  4. Ettore Capri
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  7. Paolo Boccazzi
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Correspondence to Paolo Boccazzi.

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Puglisi, E., Cahill, M.J., Lessard, P.A. et al. Transcriptional Response of Rhodococcus aetherivorans I24 to Polychlorinated Biphenyl-Contaminated Sediments. Microb Ecol 60, 505–515 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-010-9650-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-010-9650-5

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