Gene expression in response to deoxycholate acid constraints growth of Enterococcus faecalis

Enterococcus faecalis is a natural inhabitant of the human gastrointestinal tract. In a healthy physiological state of the gut (eubiosis), E. faecalis is a subdominant species in the intestinal microbiota. When the intestinal homeostasis is disrupted (dysbiosis), it becomes dominant species and can cause infections. The prominence of bile acids deoxycholate (DCA) hallmarks eubiosis. This experiment aimed to better understand how E. faecalis adapts to DCA. We showed that DCA impairs E. faecalis growth and imposes permanent adjustments to the expression of many crucial genes, including a majority of factors enabling translation. Thus, the drastic decrease of DCA amounts during dysbiosis may account for the rise of E. faecalis population. Overall design: Impact of DCA on E. faecalis gene expression. Samples were sequenced at different time points after addition of 25 µM DCA (0.01% final). Some of the samples were treated with RppH (New England Biolabs; 1 unit / µg of RNA; 37°C for 30 min).