Control of Virulence Gene Expression in Citrobacter rodentium by Trascription Factor RegA

Identification of the targets of RegA with and without bicarbonate stimulation by comparing RegA knockout to multicopy RegA transgenics. RegA is an AraC like transcription factor identified in a mutational screen for virulence genes in Citrobacter rodentium, an attaching and effacing pathogen that causes transmissible colonic hyperplasia in mice. This experiment compares the RegA null strain with a multicopy plasmid rescue of this null strain in the presence and absence of bicarbonate with the aim of identifying pathogenesis related genes related to the early and late stages of attachment and effacement. Keywords: genetic modification, transcription factor, induction A strain of Citrobacter rodentium with a knockout of RegA was compared to the same strain rescued with a multicopy plasmid containing the wildtype RegA gene. These strains were analyzed with and without bicarbonate in an unconnected two factor design with dye balanced biological replicates.