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Series GSE40796 Query DataSets for GSE40796
Status Public on Sep 25, 2012
Title Uranium extremophily is an adaptive, rather than intrinsic, feature for extremely thermoacidophilic Metallosphaera species
Platform organism Metallosphaera sedula
Sample organisms Metallosphaera prunae; Metallosphaera sedula DSM 5348
Experiment type Expression profiling by array
Summary Thermoacidophilic archaea are found in heavy metal-rich environments and, in some cases, these microorganisms are causative agents of metal mobilization through cellular processes related to their bioenergetics. Given the nature of their habitats, these microorganisms must deal with the potentially toxic effect of heavy metals. Here, we show that two thermoacidophilic Metallosphaera species with nearly identical (99.99%) genomes differed significantly in their sensitivity and reactivity to uranium. M. prunae, isolated from a smoldering heap on a uranium mine in Thuringen, Germany, could be viewed as a “spontaneous mutant” of M. sedula, an isolate from Pisciarelli solfatara near Naples, Italy. M. prunae tolerated U3O8 and U(VI) to a much greater extent than M. sedula. Within 15 minutes following exposure to “U(VI) shock”, M. sedula, and not M. prunae, exhibited transcriptomic features associated with severe stress response. Furthermore, within 15 minutes post-U(VI) shock, M. prunae, and not M. sedula, showed evidence of substantial degradation of cellular RNA. This suggested that transcriptional and translational processes were aborted as a dynamic mechanism for resisting U toxicity; by 60 minutes post-U(VI) shock, RNA integrity in M. prunae recovered, and known modes for heavy metal resistance were activated. In addition, M. sedula rapidly oxidized solid U3O8 to soluble U(VI) for bioenergetic purposes, a chemolithoautotrophic feature not previously reported. M. prunae, however, did not solubilize solid U3O8 to any significant extent, thereby not exacerbating U(VI) toxicity. These results point to uranium extremophily as an adaptive, rather than intrinsic, feature for Metallosphaera species, driven by environmental factors.
 
Overall design The study comprises 9 Samples, described in detail below.
MprAU_MseAU: Transcriptional analysis of the response of Metallosphaera prunae (Mpr) and Metallosphaera sedula(Mse) to chemolithoautotrophic conditions (0.1 wt% Uranium octaoxide with CO2 supplementation in headspace). This experiment was done to identify the key terminal oxidases which responded to a Uranium oxide while doing inter-species comparison between Mpr and Mse. Transcriptional response of the terminal oxidase clusters proved that certain key genes play a role in the vastly different physiologies of these two species.

MprN_MprU60: Transcriptional analysis of the response of Metallosphaera prunae (Mpr) to 60 min of Uranium shock. This experiment was done to analyze the differential transcription of Mpr cells challenged with 1 mM uranyl acetate shock (U shock) compared to normal growth. The Uranium cultures were harvested 60 min after the shock.

MprN_MseN: Differential transcription of Metallosphaera species under normal growth conditions. This experiment was done to analyze the differential transcription of Mpr cells compared with Mse cells at mid log phase.

MprN_MprU3h: Transcriptional response of Metallosphaera prunae (Mpr) to 3h of Uranium shock compared to normal growth. This experiment was done to analyze the differential transcription of Mpr cells challenged with 1 mM uranyl acetate shock (U shock) . The Uranium cultures were harvested 3 h after the shock.

MseN_MseU15: Transcriptional response of Metallosphaera sedula (Mse) to 15 min of Uranium shock. This experiment was done to analyze the differential transcription of Mse cells challenged with 1 mM uranyl acetate shock (U shock) compared to normal growth. The Uranium cultures were harvested 15 min after the shock.

MseN_MseU60: Transcriptional response of Metallosphaera sedula to 60 min of Uranium shock. Mse cells were grown upto mid log phase after which the cells were subjected to U shock and harvested 60 min later. Biological repeats were done for both experimental conditions.

MseN_MseU3h: Transcriptional response of Metallosphaera sedula (Mse) to 3h of Uranium shock compared to normal growth. This experiment was done to analyze the differential transcription of Mse cells challenged with 1 mM uranyl acetate shock (U shock) . The Uranium cultures were harvested 3 h after the shock.

MseU15_MseU60: Transcriptional response of Metallosphaera sedula to 15 min of Uranium shock compared with 60 min of Uranium shock. This experiment was done to analyze the differential transcription of Mse cells challenged with 1 mM uranyl acetate shock (U shock) . The Uranium cultures were harvested 15 min and 60 min after the shock.

MprU3h_MseU3h: Differential transcription of Metallosphaera cells under Uranium shock. This experiment was done to analyze the differential transcription of Metallosphaera sedula (Mse) and Metallosphaera prunae (Mpr) challenged with 1 mM uranyl acetate.
 
Contributor(s) Mukherjee A, Wheaton GH, Blum PH, Kelly RM
Citation(s) 23010932
Submission date Sep 12, 2012
Last update date Sep 30, 2012
Contact name Arpan Mukherjee
E-mail(s) amukher3@ncsu.edu
Organization name North Carolina State University
Department Chemical Engineering
Street address 840 Main Campus Dr. Rm 3304
City Raleigh
State/province NC
ZIP/Postal code 27606
Country USA
 
Platforms (1)
GPL6785 NCSU_Metallosphaera sedula_2Karray_version1
Samples (9)
GSM1001875 MprAU_MseAU
GSM1001876 MprN_MprU60
GSM1001877 MprN_MseN
Relations
BioProject PRJNA175003

Download family Format
SOFT formatted family file(s) SOFTHelp
MINiML formatted family file(s) MINiMLHelp
Series Matrix File(s) TXTHelp

Supplementary file Size Download File type/resource
GSE40796_RAW.tar 14.2 Mb (http)(custom) TAR (of CSV)
Processed data included within Sample table

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