Large-scale transposon mutagenesis of Photobacterium profundum SS9 reveals new genetic loci important for growth at low temperature and high pressure

Federico M. Lauro, Khiem Tran, Alessandro Vezzi, Nicola Vitulo, Giorgio Valle, Douglas H. Bartlett*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

73 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Microorganisms adapted to piezopsychrophilic growth dominate the majority of the biosphere that is at relatively constant low temperatures and high pressures, but the genetic bases for the adaptations are largely unknown. Here we report the use of transposon mutagenesis with the deep-sea bacterium Photobacterium profundum strain SS9 to isolate dozens of mutant strains whose growth is impaired at low temperature and/or whose growth is altered as a function of hydrostatic pressure. In many cases the gene mutation-growth phenotype relationship was verified by complementation analysis. The largest fraction of loci associated with temperature sensitivity were involved in the biosynthesis of the cell envelope, in particular the biosynthesis of extracellular polysaccharide. The largest fraction of loci associated with pressure sensitivity were involved in chromosomal structure and function. Genes for ribosome assembly and function were found to be important for both low-temperature and high-pressure growth. Likewise, both adaptation to temperature and adaptation to pressure were affected by mutations in a number of sensory and regulatory loci, suggesting the importance of signal transduction mechanisms in adaptation to either physical parameter. These analyses were the first global analyses of genes conditionally required for low-temperature or high-pressure growth in a deep-sea microorganism.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1699-1709
Number of pages11
JournalJournal of Bacteriology
Volume190
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2008
Externally publishedYes

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Large-scale transposon mutagenesis of Photobacterium profundum SS9 reveals new genetic loci important for growth at low temperature and high pressure'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this