Profound impact of Hfq on nutrient acquisition, metabolism and motility in the plant pathogen \(\textit {Agrobacterium tumefaciens}\)

  • As matchmaker between mRNA and sRNA interactions, the RNA chaperone Hfq plays a key role in riboregulation of many bacteria. Often, the global influence of Hfq on the transcriptome is reflected by substantially altered proteomes and pleiotropic phenotypes in \(\it hfq\) mutants. Using quantitative proteomics and co-immunoprecipitation combined with RNA-sequencing (RIP-seq) of Hfq-bound RNAs, we demonstrate the pervasive role of Hfq in nutrient acquisition, metabolism and motility of the plant pathogen \(\textit {Agrobacterium tumefaciens}\). 136 of 2544 proteins identified by iTRAQ (\(\underline {i}\)sobaric \(\underline {t}\)ags for \(\underline {r}\)elative and \(\underline {a}\)bsolute \(\underline {q}\)uantitation) were affected in the absence of Hfq. Most of them were associated with ABC transporters, general metabolism and motility. RIP-seq of chromosomally encoded \(Hfq^{3xFlag}\) revealed 1697 mRNAs and 209 non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) associated with Hfq. 56 ncRNAs were previously undescribed. Interestingly, 55% of the Hfq-bound ncRNAs were encoded antisense (as) to a protein-coding sequence suggesting that \(\textit {A. tumefaciens}\) Hfq plays an important role in asRNA-target interactions. The exclusive enrichment of 296 mRNAs and 31 ncRNAs under virulence conditions further indicates a role for post-transcriptional regulation in \(\textit {A. tumefaciens}\)-mediated plant infection. On the basis of the iTRAQ and RIP-seq data, we assembled a comprehensive model of the Hfq core regulon in \(\textit {A. tumefaciens}\).

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Metadaten
Author:Philip MöllerGND, Aaron Falk OverlöperORCiDGND, Konrad Ulrich FörstnerGND, Tuan-Nan WenGND, Cynthia M. SharmaGND, Erh-Min LaiGND, Franz NarberhausORCiDGND
URN:urn:nbn:de:hbz:294-73171
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0110427
Parent Title (English):PLoS ONE
Publisher:Public Library of Science
Place of publication:San Francisco
Document Type:Article
Language:English
Date of Publication (online):2020/07/10
Date of first Publication:2014/10/17
Publishing Institution:Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universitätsbibliothek
Volume:9
Issue:10, Artikel e110427
First Page:e110427-1
Last Page:e110427-15
Institutes/Facilities:Lehrstuhl für Biologie der Mikroorganismen
Research Department Plasmas with Complex Interactions
Protein Research Department
Research Department Solvation Science
open_access (DINI-Set):open_access
Licence (English):License LogoCreative Commons - CC BY 4.0 - Attribution 4.0 International