Response of Bacillus halodurans C-125 wild-type and OLE-OAP knockout cells to acute ethanol stress

OLE RNA (Ornate, Large, Extremophilic RNA) is a large, noncoding RNA from extremophilic and/or anaerobic Firmicutes that binds to an integral membrane protein (OAP, OLE-Associated Protein) and localizes to the cell membrane. It is highly abundant in cells, and knockouts show increased sensitivity to short-chain alcohols, especially ethanol. We treated Bacillus halodurans C-125 cells (both wild-type and OLE-OAP knockouts) with 5% (v/v) ethanol for 3 hours to determine differences in their response to this stress. There are almost no significant differences between cells before ethanol stress, while after ethanol stress a small number (~40) genes show differences in expression between the two strains. These genes show little connection between their function, however, leading us to conclude that the majority of differential adaptation in kncokouts may occur at an earlier time or at the post-trancriptional level. These data also serve as a reference for a Gram-positive alkaliphile's response to acute ethanol stress. Examination of wild-type and OLE-OAP knockout cells before and after ethanol stress, in duplicate (8 samples total)