Abstract
In natural environments microorganisms encounter extreme changes in temperature, pH, osmolarities and nutrient availability. The stress response of many bacterial species has been described in detail, however, knowledge in Archaea is limited. Here, we describe the cellular response triggered by nutrient limitation in the thermoacidophilic crenarchaeon Sulfolobus acidocaldarius. We measured changes in gene transcription and protein abundance upon nutrient depletion up to 4 h after initiation of nutrient depletion. Transcript levels of 1118 of 2223 protein coding genes and abundance of approximately 500 proteins with functions in almost all cellular processes were affected by nutrient depletion. Our study reveals a significant rerouting of the metabolism with respect to degradation of internal as well as extracellular-bound organic carbon and degradation of proteins. Moreover, changes in membrane lipid composition were observed in order to access alternative sources of energy and to maintain pH homeostasis. At transcript level, the cellular response to nutrient depletion in S. acidocaldarius seems to be controlled by the general transcription factors TFB2 and TFEβ. In addition, ribosome biogenesis is reduced, while an increased protein degradation is accompanied with a loss of protein quality control. This study provides first insights into the early cellular response of Sulfolobus to organic carbon and organic nitrogen depletion.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 3201 |
Number of pages | 17 |
Journal | Frontiers in Microbiology |
Volume | 9 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 10 Jan 2019 |
Funding
This work was supported by the Collaborative Research Center 746 (to LB and MFH) and the Excellence Initiative of the German Research Foundation (GSC-4, Spemann Graduate School) (to LB). LH (0316188C), JW (0316188B), AA (031L0078C), and SA and TJ (0316188) received funds from the BMBF. TP and PW thank the BBSRC (BB/M018172/1 and BB/M012166/1) and The University of Sheffield for the funding support. PW also thanks Newcastle University for the funding support. BS acknowledges the funding by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) within E:bio initiative, HotSySAPP 03120078A and the support of the German network for bioinformatics infrastructure (de.NBI, Grant 031A533). We are grateful to Calgar Yildiz (NIOZ) for analytical support. The article processing charge was funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the University of Freiburg in the funding program Open Access Publishing.
Keywords
- Archaea
- Cell motility
- Nutrient depletion
- Signal transduction
- Stress response
- Transcription factors