Transcriptome of Escherichia coli in response to abiotic intervention mediated by gaseous chlorine dioxide and ozone on non-host tomato

Escherichia coli is a foodborne pathogens detected on fresh tomato produce. Gaseous chlorine dioxide (ClO2) treatments is an effective method to reduce bacterial growth on tomato. In this project, we are testing the hypothesis that abiotic intervention mediated by gaseous ClO2 leads to potential adaptation and acclimation in E. coli. By use of next-generation sequencing applications, our aims are to: 1) Discover genes and co-expression network that are associated defense response to gaseous ClO2 stressor; 2) Provide evidence of potential acclimation and adaptation of E. coli during ClO2 treatment; 3) establish an algorithmic pipeline to facilitate future omics data analysis to elucidate the transcriptional regulatory network in bacterial species. Outcomes of this exploratory research are expected to advance our knowledge of chemical induced gene co-expression network, towards novel applications in selection of target molecules and pathways for eliminating the bacterial contamination in food industry.

大肠杆菌（Escherichia coli）是一类可从新鲜番茄制品中检出的食源性致病菌。气态二氧化氯（Gaseous chlorine dioxide, ClO₂）处理技术是抑制番茄表面细菌增殖的有效手段。本研究旨在验证如下假说：由气态二氧化氯介导的非生物干预，可引发大肠杆菌产生潜在的适应性与驯化反应。借助下一代测序技术，本研究的目标如下：1） 挖掘与大肠杆菌应对气态二氧化氯胁迫的防御反应相关的基因及共表达网络；2） 为大肠杆菌在二氧化氯处理过程中发生的潜在适应性与驯化反应提供实验依据；3） 构建一套算法流程，以助力未来的组学数据分析，进而阐明细菌物种的转录调控网络。本探索性研究的预期成果，将深化我们对化学诱导基因共表达网络的认知，为食品工业中筛选用于清除细菌污染的靶标分子与通路提供全新的应用方向。