Transcriptome analysis of Antarctic Rhodococcus sp. NJ-530 in the response to dimethylsulfoniopropionate

摘要

Dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) and dimethyl sulfide (DMS) are critical molecules in the global sulfur cycle and in climate regulation. Bacterial DMSP-dependent DMS production is an important natural source of DMS. The aim of the present work was to use RNA-seq technology to investigate the changes in gene expression profiles of Antarctic Rhodococcus sp. NJ-530 in response to DMSP, and the possible mechanism of DMSP metabolism. In this study, Rhodococcus sp. NJ-530 cells were exposed to 0 (control) and 1 mM DMSP for 9 h. The results showed that DMSP induces transcriptional changes to Rhodococcus sp. NJ-530. DMSP caused upregulation of several genes that may play a potential role in DMSP metabolization. Additionally, transcriptome analysis of DMSP metabolism determinized a total of 1159 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between two treatment strategies. qRT-PCR was performed to further confirm the changes in these results. GO and KEGG enrichment analyses showed that DMS production is the result of the coordinated action of a multitude of DMSP lysis-associated genes along a pathway, including absorption mechanism, secondary metabolisms, and cellular signaling. In conclusion, our data indicated that DMSP exposure induced DMSP cleavage pathway activity, and the effects on the gene expression profile of strain NJ-530 were analyzed at the transcriptional level during the degradation of DMSP. This work provided insight into the transcriptional characterization of Rhodococcus sp. NJ-530 in response to DMSP and contributed to clarifying the biodegradation and underlying mechanism of DMSP in Rhodococcus sp. NJ-530.