Differential RNA-seq of Plant Beneficial Rhizobacterium Bacillus amyloliquefaciens FZB42 Reveals sRNA Bas01 involved in Sporulation and Biofilm Formation

Bacillus amyloliquefaciens FZB42 is a representative organism for Gram positive soil bacteria associated with plant roots and beneficial to plant growth. It is of immense importance to understand mechanisms of this class of bacteria adapting to rhizosphere. In this work employing differential RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) and Northern blot, we systematically identified transcription start sites of mRNAs as well as non-coding regulatory RNAs in FZB42. The genes regulated at different growth phases and located in polycistronic operons were also identified. A set of genes were re-annotated. In addition, a sRNA named Bas01 was identified to be involved in Bacillus sporulation and biofilm formation. The result we obtained provides valuable data for investigation of Bacillus gene expression and molecular details of rhizobacterial interaction with host plants. Overall design: Examination of transcriptome profile of rhizobacterium B. amyloliquefaciens FZB42 grown under six conditions.