Fur regulation in nontyepable Haemophilus influenzae

Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi) is a commensal microorganism of the normal human nasopharyngeal flora, yet also an opportunistic pathogen of the upper and lower respiratory tracts. Changes in gene expression patterns in response to host microenvironments are likely critical for persistence. One such system of gene regulation is the ability to carefully regulate iron uptake. A central regulatory system that controls iron uptake, mediated by the ferric uptake regulator Fur, is present in multiple bacteria, including NTHi. To understand the regulation of iron homeostasis in NTHi, fur was deleted in the prototypic NTHi clinical isolate, 86-028NP. Using an NTHi-specific microarray, we identified genes whose expression was repressed or activated by Fur. These data comprise transcriptional anaylses of a pediatric isolate of NTHi (86-028NP) an rpsL mutant of 86-028NP, a fur mutant of 86-028NP and a fur mutant of 86-028NPrpsL. NTHi parent and fur mutant strains were grown in defined medium containing 10 µg /ml human hemoglobin to mid-log phase. Cells were then harvested and RNA extracted. A total of four biological replicates were generated for these analyses.