Spacer sequence for targeting rpoH gene in Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 via CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing

rpoH encodes a RNA polymerase sigma factor that coordinates the expression of heat shock genes in Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1. Thus, rpoH is a useful target for modulating the expression of heat shock genes in the versatile environmental bacterium in studies ranging from understanding the heat shock response of the species to determining the effect of the regulon on the cellular physiology of the organism. One approach for deleting rpoH is through the CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing technique that requires a guide RNA encoding a spacer sequence specific for the gene of interest to be designed. Using an in-house MATLAB software, the spacer sequences able to target the sense and antisense DNA strands of rpoH gene in P. aeruginosa PAO1 were designed, and archived as an Excel file for ease of access and storage. Overall, the spacer sequences presented in this work should find use in targeting the rpoH gene in P. aeruginosa PAO1 for a range of applications such as gene deletion and gene activation through the CRISPR-Cas9 system.