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Iturbe P, Martín AS, Hamamoto H, Marcet-Houben M, Galbaldón T, Solano C, Lasa I. Noncontiguous operon atlas for the Staphylococcus aureus genome. Microlife 2024; 5:uqae007. [PMID: 38651166 PMCID: PMC11034616 DOI: 10.1093/femsml/uqae007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/11/2023] [Revised: 03/20/2024] [Accepted: 04/08/2024] [Indexed: 04/25/2024]
Abstract
Bacteria synchronize the expression of genes with related functions by organizing genes into operons so that they are cotranscribed together in a single polycistronic messenger RNA. However, some cellular processes may benefit if the simultaneous production of the operon proteins coincides with the inhibition of the expression of an antagonist gene. To coordinate such situations, bacteria have evolved noncontiguous operons (NcOs), a subtype of operons that contain one or more genes that are transcribed in the opposite direction to the other operon genes. This structure results in overlapping transcripts whose expression is mutually repressed. The presence of NcOs cannot be predicted computationally and their identification requires a detailed knowledge of the bacterial transcriptome. In this study, we used direct RNA sequencing methodology to determine the NcOs map in the Staphylococcus aureus genome. We detected the presence of 18 NcOs in the genome of S. aureus and four in the genome of the lysogenic prophage 80α. The identified NcOs comprise genes involved in energy metabolism, metal acquisition and transport, toxin-antitoxin systems, and control of the phage life cycle. Using the menaquinone operon as a proof of concept, we show that disarrangement of the NcO architecture results in a reduction of bacterial fitness due to an increase in menaquinone levels and a decrease in the rate of oxygen consumption. Our study demonstrates the significance of NcO structures in bacterial physiology and emphasizes the importance of combining operon maps with transcriptomic data to uncover previously unnoticed functional relationships between neighbouring genes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pablo Iturbe
- Laboratory of Microbial Pathogenesis, Navarrabiomed-Universidad Pública de Navarra (UPNA)-Hospital Universitario de Navarra (HUN), IdiSNA, Irunlarrea 3, Pamplona, 31008 Navarra, Spain
| | - Alvaro San Martín
- Laboratory of Microbial Pathogenesis, Navarrabiomed-Universidad Pública de Navarra (UPNA)-Hospital Universitario de Navarra (HUN), IdiSNA, Irunlarrea 3, Pamplona, 31008 Navarra, Spain
| | - Hiroshi Hamamoto
- Faculty of Medicine, Department of Infectious diseases, Yamagata University, 2-2-2 Lida-Nishi, 990-9585 Yamagata, Japan
| | - Marina Marcet-Houben
- Barcelona Supercomputing Centre (BSC-CNS). Plaça Eusebi Güell, 1-3, 08034 Barcelona, Spain
- Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Baldiri Reixac, 10, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
| | - Toni Galbaldón
- Barcelona Supercomputing Centre (BSC-CNS). Plaça Eusebi Güell, 1-3, 08034 Barcelona, Spain
- Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona), The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Baldiri Reixac, 10, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
- Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA), 08010 Barcelona, Spain
- CIBER de Enfermedades Infecciosas, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, 28029 Madrid, Spain
| | - Cristina Solano
- Laboratory of Microbial Pathogenesis, Navarrabiomed-Universidad Pública de Navarra (UPNA)-Hospital Universitario de Navarra (HUN), IdiSNA, Irunlarrea 3, Pamplona, 31008 Navarra, Spain
| | - Iñigo Lasa
- Laboratory of Microbial Pathogenesis, Navarrabiomed-Universidad Pública de Navarra (UPNA)-Hospital Universitario de Navarra (HUN), IdiSNA, Irunlarrea 3, Pamplona, 31008 Navarra, Spain
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