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Journal of Bacteriology, January 2005, p. 304-319, Vol. 187, No. 1
0021-9193/05/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/JB.187.1.304-319.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
pH Regulates Genes for Flagellar Motility, Catabolism, and Oxidative Stress in Escherichia coli K-12
Lisa M. Maurer,1
Elizabeth Yohannes,1
Sandra S. Bondurant,2
Michael Radmacher,1 and
Joan L. Slonczewski1*
Department
of Biology, Kenyon College, Gambier,
Ohio,1
Gene Expression
Center, University of Wisconsin, Madison,
Wisconsin2
Received 30 July 2004/
Accepted 17 September 2004
Gene
expression profiles of Escherichia coli K-12 W3110
were compared as a function of steady-state external pH.
Cultures were grown to an optical density at 600 nm of 0.3 in
potassium-modified Luria-Bertani medium buffered at pH 5.0, 7.0, and
8.7. For each of the three pH conditions, cDNA from RNA of five
independent cultures was hybridized to Affymetrix E.
coli arrays. Analysis of variance with an
level of
0.001 resulted in 98% power to detect genes showing a twofold
difference in expression. Normalized expression indices were calculated
for each gene and intergenic region (IG). Differential expression among
the three pH classes was observed for 763 genes and 353 IGs.
Hierarchical clustering yielded six well-defined clusters of pH
profiles, designated Acid High (highest expression at pH 5.0), Acid Low
(lowest expression at pH 5.0), Base High (highest at pH 8.7), Base Low
(lowest at pH 8.7), Neutral High (highest at pH 7.0, lower in
acid or base), and Neutral Low (lowest at pH 7.0, higher at
both pH extremes). Flagellar and chemotaxis genes were repressed at pH
8.7 (Base Low cluster), where the cell's transmembrane proton
potential is diminished by the maintenance of an inverted pH gradient.
High pH also repressed the proton pumps cytochrome o (cyo) and
NADH dehydrogenases I and II. By contrast, the proton-importing ATP
synthase F1Fo and the microaerophilic cytochrome
d (cyd), which minimizes proton export, were induced
at pH 8.7. These observations are consistent with a model in which high
pH represses synthesis of flagella, which expend proton motive force,
while stepping up electron transport and ATPase components that keep
protons inside the cell. Acid-induced genes, on the other hand, were
coinduced by conditions associated with increased metabolic rate, such
as oxidative stress. All six pH-dependent clusters included envelope
and periplasmic proteins, which directly experience external pH.
Overall, this study showed that (i) low pH accelerates acid
consumption and proton export, while coinducing oxidative stress and
heat shock regulons; (ii) high pH accelerates proton import, while
repressing the energy-expensive flagellar and chemotaxis regulons; and
(iii) pH differentially regulates a large number of periplasmic and
envelope
proteins.
* Corresponding
author. Mailing address: Department of Biology, Higley Hall, 202 N.
College Dr., Kenyon College, Gambier, OH 43022. Phone: (740)
427-5397. Fax: (740) 427-5089. E-mail:
slonczewski{at}kenyon.edu.
Supplemental material for this article may be found at
http://jb.asm.org/.
Journal of Bacteriology, January 2005, p. 304-319, Vol. 187, No. 1
0021-9193/05/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/JB.187.1.304-319.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
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