Assigning a role for chemosensory signal transduction in Campylobacter jejuni biofilms using a combined omics approach

Biofilms serve as a protective mechanism for bacteria to cope with environmental stress. Whilst ordinarily a fastidious organism, it has been long suggested that C. jejuni is able to utilise this mode of growth as a way to transmit infection from the avian host to humans. Herein, we undertook a combinatorial approach to examine differential expression of C. jejuni genes and protein abundance during biofilm formation. RNA sequencing and proteomics via quantitative liquid chromatography – tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) revealed biofilm growth induced a substantial rearrangement of the C. jejuni transcriptome and proteome, with ~600 genes differentially expressed in biofilms compared to planktonic cells. Biofilm-induced genes / proteins were those involved in iron metabolism and acquisition, cell division, glycan production and attachment, while those repressed were associated with metabolism, amino acid uptake and utilisation, and large tracts of the chemotaxis pathway. Overall design: Examination of differentially expressed transcripts from planktonic cells and those in a biofilm in Campylobacter jejuni

生物膜（Biofilm）是细菌应对环境胁迫的保护性机制。尽管空肠弯曲杆菌（Campylobacter jejuni，简称C. jejuni）通常是一种营养苛求的微生物，但长期以来有研究推测其可利用这种生长方式实现从禽类宿主向人类的感染传播。本研究采用联合研究策略，探究空肠弯曲杆菌在生物膜形成过程中的基因差异表达与蛋白质丰度变化。通过RNA测序（RNA sequencing）与基于定量液相色谱-串联质谱（LC-MS/MS）的蛋白质组学分析，本研究发现生物膜生长会引发空肠弯曲杆菌转录组与蛋白质组的显著重编程：与浮游细胞相比，生物膜状态下约有600个基因呈现差异表达。其中，生物膜诱导上调的基因/蛋白质参与铁代谢与铁摄取、细胞分裂、聚糖合成及黏附过程；而被抑制的基因/蛋白质则与代谢、氨基酸摄取与利用，以及趋化通路的大片段区域相关。实验整体设计：对空肠弯曲杆菌浮游细胞与生物膜状态下的差异表达转录本进行检测。