The impact of the halogenated phenazine HP-29 on the transcriptome of Streptococcus mutans with or without zinc supplementation

We sought to identify transcriptomic changes that arise when S. mutans is cultivated in the presence of HP-29 with or without zinc supplementation. Mid-logarithmic broth cultures of Streptococcus mutans UA159 were exposed to 0.025uM HP-29 or to 0.025uM HP-29 and 0.5mM ZnSO4 for 30 minutes. We compared this transcriptomic data to that of control cultures that were grown in medium (BHI) without exposure to HP-29 or ZnSO4 Overall design: Cultures of S. mutans UA159 were inoculated in BHI and grown to mid-logarithmic phase (OD600 = 0.4), then split into three tubes: 1) BHI control, 2) 0.025uM HP-29, 3) 0.5mM ZnSO4 + 0.025uM HP-29. These samples were incubated for an additional 30 minutes, then harvested by centrifugation, and then bacterial pellets resuspended in 1 mL RNA Protect Bacterial Reagent (Qiagen). Total RNA was isolated and prepared for RNA-Seq analysis.