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Title: Empirical Establishment of Oligonucleotide Probe Design Criteria; Use of Microarrays with Different Probe Sizes for Monitoring Gene Expression; Temporal Transcriptomic Analysis as Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough Transitions into Stationary Phase during Electron Donor Depletion

Journal Article · · Applied and Environmental Microbiology
OSTI ID:927688

In order to experimentally establish the criteria for designing gene-specific and group-specific oligonucleotide probes, an oligonucleotide array was constructed that contained perfect match (PM) and mismatch (MM) probes (50mers and 70mers) based upon 4 genes. The effects of probe-target identity, continuous stretch, mismatch position, and hybridization free energy on specificity were examined. Little hybridization was observed at a probe-target identity of <85% for both 50mer and 70mer probes........Based on the experimental results, a set of criteria are suggested for the design of gene-specific and group-specific oligonucleotide probes, and these criteria should provide valuable information for the development of new software and algorithms for microarray-based studies.; Microarrays with oligonucleotides of different lengths were used to monitor gene expression at a wholegenome level. To determine what length of oligonucleotide is a better alternative to PCR-generated probes, the performance of oligonucleotide probes was systematically compared to that of their PCR-generated counterparts for 96 genes from Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 in terms of overall signal intensity, numbers of genes detected, specificity, sensitivity, and differential gene expression under experimental conditions. .......To evaluate differential gene expression under experimental conditions, S. oneidensis MR-1 cells were exposed to low- or high-pH conditions for 30 and 60 min, and the transcriptional profiles detected by oligonucleotide probes (50-mer, 60-mer, and 70-mer) were closely correlated with those detected by the PCR probes. The results demonstrated that 70-mer oligonucleotides can provide the performance most comparable to the performance obtained with PCR-generated probes.; Desulfovibrio vulgaris was cultivated in a defined medium, and biomass was sampled for approximately 70 h to characterize the shifts in gene expression as cells transitioned from the exponential to the stationary phase during electron donor depletion. In addition to temporal transcriptomics, total protein, carbohydrate, lactate, acetate, and sulfate levels were measured. The microarray data were examined for statistically significant expression changes, hierarchical cluster analysis, and promoter element prediction and were validated by quantitative PCR. ..... Our results indicated that in addition to expected changes (e.g., energy conversion, protein turnover, translation, transcription, and DNA replication and repair), genes related to phage, stress response, carbohydrate flux, the outer envelope, and iron homeostasis played important roles as D. vulgaris cells experienced electron donor depletion.

Research Organization:
Matthew W. Fields (Miami University)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
DOE Contract Number:
FG02-04ER63765
OSTI ID:
927688
Report Number(s):
DOE/ER/63765-1; DOE/ER/63765-2; DOE/ER/63765-3
Journal Information:
Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Vol. 71; 71; 72, Issue 7; 9; 8
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English