Analysis of Escherichia coli adaptation to a sublethal concentration of sodium bisulfite

Little is known about cell responses and survival in the presence if reducing agents that could change the redox state of living organisms potentially conferring a negative effect on major metabolic pathways and respiration. As many reducing reagents, in particular sulfur-containing compounds, are widely used as food preservatives, we decided to study effects of sublethal concentrations of reducing reagents on bacterial adaptation. The aim of this study was to analyse and compare the transcriptome profils of untreated and sulfite-treated Escherichia coli cells obtained by employing microarray analysis. Total RNA was isolated from Echerichia coli MG1655 cultures grown in M9 supplemented with 0.4% glucose prior and after sulfite treatment and submited for microarray analysis