Transcriptional and translational regulatory responses to iron limitation in the globally distributed marine bacterium Candidatus Pelagibacter ubique
Abstract Background: Iron is recognized as an important micronutrient that limits microbial plankton productivity over vast regions of the oceans. We investigated the gene expression responses of Candidatus Pelagibacter ubique cultures to iron limitation in natural seawater media supplemented with a siderophore to chelate iron. Methodology/Principal Findings: Microarray data indicated transcription of the periplasmic iron binding protein sfuC increased by 16-fold, and iron transporter subunits, iron-sulfur center assembly genes, and the putative ferroxidase rubrerythrin transcripts increased to a lesser extent. Quantitative peptide mass spectrometry revealed that sfuC protein abundance increased 27-fold, despite an average decrease of 59% across the global proteome. Two RNA-binding proteins, CspE and CspL, correlated well with iron availability, suggesting that they may contribute to the observed differences between the transcriptome and proteome. Conclusions/Significance: We propose sfuC as a marker gene for indicating iron limitation in marine metatranscriptomic and metaproteomic ecological surveys. The marked proteome reduction was not directly correlated to changes in the transcriptome, implicating post-transcriptional regulatory mechanisms as modulators of protein expression. We propose a model in which the RNA-binding activity of cspE and cspL selectively enables protein synthesis of the iron acquisition protein sfuC during transient growth-limiting episodes of iron scarcity.
- Research Organization:
- Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States). Environmental Molecular Sciences Lab. (EMSL)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-76RL01830
- OSTI ID:
- 982565
- Report Number(s):
- PNNL-SA-72424; 18427; KP1601010; TRN: US201014%%386
- Journal Information:
- PLoS One, 5(5):Article Number: e10487, Vol. 5, Issue 5; ISSN 1932-6203
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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