Data from: Deletion of an sRNA primes development in a multicellular bacterium

Small non-coding RNAs (sRNAs) are essential in regulating gene expression
during many biological processes. The myxobacteria gene pxr encodes an
sRNA known to block fruiting-body development, an aggregative
multicellular process triggered by starvation. Deletion of pxr allows
Myxococcus xanthus cells to develop in the presence of nutrients. However,
potential Pxr binding targets and most genes regulated by Pxr remain
unknown. Here, we found that the absence of pxr expression dramatically
alters the temporal dynamics of development, thus suggesting an important
new role of this sRNA in myxobacterial ecology. We transcriptionally
profiled vegetative cells of M. xanthus strains possessing vs lacking pxr
and found that over half of the genes impacted by pxr deletion during
growth are linked to development, including known and potentially novel
critical regulators. Many other genes are associated with general
metabolic processes, which Pxr regulates positively. Our study discovers
new phenotypic effects of Pxr regulation of likely ecological importance,
identifies the suite of genes this sRNA controls during vegetative growth,
reveals a previously unknown developmental regulator and provides new
insights into the early molecular regulation of myxobacterial development.

小型非编码RNA（small non-coding RNAs，sRNAs）在诸多生物学过程的基因表达调控中发挥关键作用。黏细菌基因pxr编码一种已知可阻断子实体发育的sRNA，而子实体发育是一类由饥饿触发的聚集型多细胞过程。敲除pxr可使黄色黏球菌（Myxococcus xanthus）细胞在营养充足的条件下发生发育。然而，Pxr的潜在结合靶点以及绝大多数受Pxr调控的基因仍未被探明。
本研究发现，pxr表达缺失会显著改变发育过程的时序动态，这表明该sRNA在黏细菌生态中具有此前未被认知的重要新功能。我们对携带pxr与缺失pxr的黄色黏球菌菌株的营养体细胞进行了转录组分析，发现生长阶段受pxr敲除影响的基因中超过一半与发育相关，其中包括已知的以及潜在的新型关键调控因子。其余众多基因则与基础代谢过程相关，且这类基因均受Pxr正向调控。
本研究揭示了Pxr调控所产生的具有潜在生态重要性的新表型效应，明确了该sRNA在营养体生长阶段所调控的全部基因，发现了一个此前未被报道的发育调控因子，并为黏细菌发育的早期分子调控机制提供了全新的研究视角。