Wang Ya, Teng Yanli, Geng Juan, Long Jinzhao, Yang Haiyan, Duan Guangcai, Chen Shuaiyin
Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, College of Public Health, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, China.
Henan Province Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Zhengzhou, China.
Res Microbiol. 2023 Jun;174(5):104047. doi: 10.1016/j.resmic.2023.104047. Epub 2023 Mar 1.
The host factor for RNA phage Qβ replicase (Hfq) is a crucial post-transcriptional regulator in many bacterial pathogens, facilitating the interaction between small non-coding RNAs (sRNAs) and their target mRNAs. Studies have suggested that Hfq plays a role in antibiotic resistance and virulence in bacteria, although its functions in Shigella are not fully understood. In this study, we investigated the functional roles of Hfq in Shigella sonnei (S. sonnei) by constructing an hfq deletion mutant. Our phenotypic assays showed that the hfq deletion mutant was more sensitivity to antibiotics and had impaired virulence. Transcriptome analyses supported the results concerning the phenotype of the hfq mutant and showed that differentially expressed genes were mainly enriched in the KEGG pathways two-component system, ABC transporters, ribosome, and Escherichia coli biofilm formation. Additionally, we predicted eleven novel Hfq-dependent sRNAs, which were potentially involved in the regulation of antibiotic resistance and/or virulence in S. sonnei. Our findings suggest that Hfq plays a post-transcriptional role in regulating antibiotic resistance and virulence in S. sonnei, and could provide a basis for future studies on Hfq-sRNA-mRNA regulatory networks in this important pathogen.
RNA噬菌体Qβ复制酶的宿主因子（Hfq）是许多细菌病原体中关键的转录后调节因子，可促进小非编码RNA（sRNA）与其靶标mRNA之间的相互作用。研究表明，Hfq在细菌的抗生素抗性和毒力中发挥作用，尽管其在志贺氏菌中的功能尚未完全了解。在本研究中，我们通过构建hfq缺失突变体来研究Hfq在宋内志贺氏菌（S. sonnei）中的功能作用。我们的表型分析表明，hfq缺失突变体对抗生素更敏感且毒力受损。转录组分析支持了关于hfq突变体表型的结果，并表明差异表达基因主要富集在KEGG通路双组分系统、ABC转运蛋白、核糖体和大肠杆菌生物膜形成中。此外，我们预测了11种新的Hfq依赖性sRNA，它们可能参与宋内志贺氏菌抗生素抗性和/或毒力的调节。我们的研究结果表明，Hfq在调节宋内志贺氏菌的抗生素抗性和毒力中发挥转录后作用，并可为该重要病原体中Hfq-sRNA-mRNA调控网络的未来研究提供基础。
