Transcriptome analysis of Streptococcus suis upon exposure to sub-lethal concentrations of LL-37. Streptococcus suis

Streptococcus suis is a major pig pathogen as well as an emerging zoonotic pathogen. We studied the generic and adaptive resistance response of S. suis upon exposure to sub-lethal concentrations of the human cathelicidin LL-37. We aimed to search for inducible mechanisms of resistance to AMPs as well as induction of virulence gene expression upon exposure to AMPs, in order to gain insights into host-derived factors that might mediate S. suis pathogenesis. Overall design: In this experiment, S. suis bacteria were grown into mid-exponential growth phase in THB, transferred to PBS supplemented with 5% THB and exposed to three different conditions (no peptide, 0.1 µM LL-37, or 0.25 µM LL-37) and RNA was extracted at two timepoints (after 10 or 30 min exposure). These data are included in Chapter 3 of the Ph.D. thesis of Rogier Gaiser (https://edepot.wur.nl/387767).