Dual RpoH sigma factors in Sinorhizobium meliloti. Sinorhizobium meliloti

Sinorhizobium meliloti can live as a soil saprophyte, and can engage in a nitrogen fixing symbiosis with plant roots. To succeed in such diverse environments, the bacteria must continually adjust gene expression. Transcriptional plasticity in eubacteria is often mediated by alternative sigma factors interacting with core RNA polymerase. The S. meliloti genome encodes 14 of these alternative sigmas, including two putative RpoH (heat shock) sigmas. We used custom Affymetrix Symbiosis Chips to characterize the global transcriptional response of S. meliloti rpoH1, rpoH2 and rpoH1 rpoH2 mutants during heat shock and stationary phase growth. Under these conditions, expression of over 300 genes is dependent on rpoH1 and rpoH2. Overall design: Gene expression profiling of Sinorhizobium meliloti Rm1021 and its isogenic rpoH1, rpoH2, and rpoH1rpoH2 mutants, subjected to heat shock or stationary phase growth, was performed using custom Affymetrix GeneChips