Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Cell Host Microbe. 2011 Aug 18;10(2):165-74. doi: 10.1016/j.chom.2011.07.007.
Pathogens adapt to the host environment by altering their patterns of gene expression. Microarray-based and genetic techniques used to characterize bacterial gene expression during infection are limited in their ability to comprehensively and simultaneously monitor genome-wide transcription. We used massively parallel cDNA sequencing (RNA-seq) techniques to quantitatively catalog the transcriptome of the cholera pathogen, Vibrio cholerae, derived from two animal models of infection. Transcripts elevated in infected rabbits and mice relative to laboratory media derive from the major known V. cholerae virulence factors and also from genes and small RNAs not previously linked to virulence. The RNA-seq data was coupled with metabolite analysis of cecal fluid from infected rabbits to yield insights into the host environment encountered by the pathogen and the mechanisms controlling pathogen gene expression. RNA-seq-based transcriptome analysis of pathogens during infection produces a robust, sensitive, and accessible data set for evaluation of regulatory responses driving pathogenesis.
病原体通过改变基因表达模式来适应宿主环境。用于描述感染过程中细菌基因表达的基于微阵列和遗传的技术在全面和同时监测全基因组转录方面能力有限。我们使用大规模平行 cDNA 测序（RNA-seq）技术定量编目了霍乱病原体霍乱弧菌的转录组，该转录组源自两种感染动物模型。与实验室培养基相比，在感染的兔子和小鼠中升高的转录本来自主要已知的霍乱弧菌毒力因子，也来自以前与毒力无关的基因和小 RNA。RNA-seq 数据与感染兔子的盲肠液代谢物分析相结合，深入了解病原体遇到的宿主环境和控制病原体基因表达的机制。感染期间基于 RNA-seq 的病原体转录组分析为评估驱动发病机制的调控反应提供了一个强大、敏感和易于获取的数据集。
