Journal Article

Conserved and specific features of Streptococcus pyogenes and Streptococcus agalactiae transcriptional landscapes

Poyart, Claire, Rosinski-Chupin, Isabelle, Fouet, Agnès, Glaser, Philippe, Sauvage, Elisabeth

2019

Overview

Background The human pathogen Streptococcus pyogenes , or group A Streptococcus , is responsible for mild infections to life-threatening diseases. To facilitate the characterization of regulatory networks involved in the adaptation of this pathogen to its different environments and their evolution, we have determined the primary transcriptome of a serotype M1  S. pyogenes strain at single-nucleotide resolution and compared it with that of Streptococcus agalactiae, also from the pyogenic group of streptococci. Results By using a combination of differential RNA-sequencing and oriented RNA-sequencing we have identified 892 transcription start sites (TSS) and 885 promoters in the S. pyogenes M1 strain S119. 8.6% of S. pyogenes mRNAs were leaderless, among which 81% were also classified as leaderless in S. agalactiae . 26% of S. pyogenes transcript 5′ untranslated regions (UTRs) were longer than 60 nt. Conservation of long 5′ UTRs with S. agalactiae allowed us to predict new potential regulatory sequences. In addition, based on the mapping of 643 transcript ends in the S. pyogenes strain S119, we constructed an operon map of 401 monocistrons and 349 operons covering 81.5% of the genome. One hundred fifty-six operons and 254 monocistrons retained the same organization, despite multiple genomic reorganizations between S. pyogenes and S. agalactiae . Genomic reorganization was found to more often go along with variable promoter sequences and 5′ UTR lengths. Finally, we identified 117 putative regulatory RNAs, among which nine were regulated in response to magnesium concentration. Conclusions Our data provide insights into transcriptome evolution in pyogenic streptococci and will facilitate the analysis of genetic polymorphisms identified by comparative genomics in S. pyogenes.

• Publisher: BioMed Central,BioMed Central Ltd,Springer Nature B.V,BMC
• Subject: 5' Untranslated Regions - genetics / 5′ UTRs / Acids / Animal Genetics and Genomics / Antisense transcription / Base Sequence / Biochemistry, Molecular Biology / Biological evolution / Biomedical and Life Sciences / Chromosomes / E coli / Gene expression / Gene Expression Profiling / Gene mapping / Gene sequencing / Genetic analysis / Genetic aspects / Genetic polymorphisms / Genetic research / Genomes / Genomics / Identification / Infection / Kinases / Life Sciences / Magnesium / Mapping / Messenger RNA / Microarrays / Microbial Genetics and Genomics / Microbiology and Parasitology / Operons / Pathogens / Physiological aspects / Plant Genetics and Genomics / Prokaryote microbial genomics / Promoters / Promoters (Genetics) / Proteins / Proteomics / Regulatory network evolution / Regulatory RNAs / Regulatory sequences / Research Article / Ribonucleic acid / RNA / Sequence Analysis, RNA / Species Specificity / Streptococcus agalactiae / Streptococcus agalactiae - genetics / Streptococcus infections / Streptococcus pyogenes / Streptococcus pyogenes - genetics / Transcription / Transcription (Genetics) / Transcription factors / Transcription Initiation Site / Transcription, Genetic