Transcriptional profiling of Klebsiella pneumoniae defines signatures for planktonic, sessile and biofilm-dispersed cells. Klebsiella pneumoniae

Purpose: The goal of this study was to use RNA-seq to define the Klebsiella pneumoniae transcriptome recorded under 5 different experimental conditions, and to identify signature genes of each condition by comparing global transcriptional profiles. Methods: mRNA profiles were generated for Klebsiella pneumoniae CH1034 clinical isolate, in triplicate, by deep sequencing. Total RNAs were harvested from bacteria cultured at 37°C in M63B1 minimal media under different conditions: (i) planktonic aerobic condition at OD 620nm=0.250 (exponential growth-phase), (ii) overnight planktonic aerobic condition (stationnary growth-phase), (iii) biofilm in a flow-cell chamber after 7 hours of incubation (7-hours old biofilm), (iv) biofilm in a flow-cell chamber after 13 hours of incubation (13-hours old biofilm), (v) bacteria self-dispersed from biofilm recovered in the flow-cell effluent (biofilm-dispersed bacteria). Ribosomal RNAs were removed using the Bacteria Ribo-Zero Magnetic kit (Epicentre Biotechnologies). Libraries were prepared using the TruSeq Stranded mRNA Sample Preparation kit (Illumina), and 50bp single-reads were obtained by HiSeq 2000 (Illumina).The sequence reads that passed FastQC quality filters were mapped to the CH1034 genome using Burrows–Wheeler Aligner (BWA) (0.7.12-r1039 version). The transcript levels were determined using HTSeq-count (0.6.1p1 version) with union mode followed by DESeq (1.16.0 version) analysis. qRT–PCR validation was performed using SYBR Green assays. Results: We found that each condition has a specific transcriptional profile, and we identify 4 robust signature genes for each. Conclusion: Our study represents the first detailed analysis of K. pneumoniae transcriptomes under different experimental conditions generated by RNA-seq technology. The data reported here should permit the dissection of complex biologic functions involved in the transition between the sessile and planktonic modes of growth. Overall design: Determination of the transcriptional profiling of Klebsiella pneumoniae under 5 different experimental conditions. mRNA profiles were generated for bacteria under exponential planktonic growth-phase, stationary planktonic growth-phase, 7 hours-old biofilm, 13 hours-old biofilm and biofilm-dispersed modes, each in three biological replicates, by deep sequencing using Illumina HiSeq