Transcriptome analysis of Escherichia coli O157:H7 EDL933 during rumen fluid exposure using microarrays

The transcriptome of Escherichia coli K-12 has been widely studied over a variety of conditions for the past decade while such studies involving E. coli O157:H7, its pathogenic cousin, are just now being conducted. To better understand the impact of rumen fluid on E. coli O157:H7, global transcript levels of strain EDL933 cells resuspended in heat clarified rumen fluid for 15 min were compared to cells resuspended in fresh LB using microarrays. Seven independent RNA samples from rumen fluid treated cultures were paired with seven independent RNA samples from control cultures for hybridization to seven two-color microarrays. For three arrays, the control RNA sample was labeled with Cy3 dye and the experimental RNA sample was labeled with Cy5 dye, the dyes were reversed for the other four arrays to overcome dye bias.