Identification of novel regulatory small RNAs in Acinetobacter baumannii

PLoS One. 2014 Apr 4;9(4):e93833. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0093833. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

Small RNA (sRNA) molecules are non-coding RNAs that have been implicated in regulation of various cellular processes in living systems, allowing them to adapt to changing environmental conditions. Till date, sRNAs have not been reported in Acinetobacter baumannii (A. baumannii), which has emerged as a significant multiple drug resistant nosocomial pathogen. In the present study, a combination of bioinformatic and experimental approach was used for identification of novel sRNAs. A total of 31 putative sRNAs were predicted by a combination of two algorithms, sRNAPredict and QRNA. Initially 10 sRNAs were chosen on the basis of lower E- value and three sRNAs (designated as AbsR11, 25 and 28) showed positive signal on Northern blot. These sRNAs are novel in nature as they do not have homologous sequences in other bacterial species. Expression of the three sRNAs was examined in various phases of bacterial growth. Further, the effect of various stress conditions on sRNA gene expression was determined. A detailed investigation revealed differential expression profile of AbsR25 in presence of varying amounts of ethidium bromide (EtBr), suggesting that its expression is influenced by environmental or internal signals such as stress response. A decrease in expression of AbsR25 and concomitant increase in the expression of bioinformatically predicted targets in presence of high EtBr was reverberated by the decrease in target gene expression when AbsR25 was overexpressed. This hints at the negative regulation of target genes by AbsR25. Interestingly, the putative targets include transporter genes and the degree of variation in expression of one of them (A1S_1331) suggests that AbsR25 is involved in regulation of a transporter. This study provides a perspective for future studies of sRNAs and their possible involvement in regulation of antibiotic resistance in bacteria specifically in cryptic A. baumannii.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Acinetobacter baumannii / genetics*
  • Algorithms*
  • Blotting, Northern
  • Computational Biology / methods
  • Drug Resistance, Bacterial / genetics
  • Ethidium
  • Gene Expression Profiling
  • Gene Expression Regulation / genetics*
  • Oligonucleotides / genetics
  • RNA, Small Untranslated / genetics*
  • RNA, Small Untranslated / metabolism*
  • Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction

Substances

  • Oligonucleotides
  • RNA, Small Untranslated
  • Ethidium

Grants and funding

This work was supported by Indian Council of Medical Research grant AMR/15/2011-ECD-I and National Agricultural Innovation Project of Indian Council of Agricultural Research grant C4/C30032 to Ranjana Pathania and Naveen Kumar Navani. Rajnikant Sharma is thankful to Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Government of India for financial support. Supriya Deepak Patil and Atin Sharma are thankful to the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Government of India for financial support. The funding agencies had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.