Abstract
Microbial tolerance to phenolic pollutants is the key to their efficient biodegradation. However, the metabolic mechanisms that allow some microorganisms to adapt to high phenol concentrations remain unclear. In this study, to reveal the underlying mechanisms of how Burkholderia sp. adapt to high phenol concentrations, the strain’s tolerance ability and time-course transcriptome in combination with cell phenotype were evaluated. Surprisingly, Burkholderia sp. still grew normally after a long adaptation to a relatively high phenol concentration (1500 mg/L) and exhibited some time-dependent changes compared to unstressed cells prior to the phenol addition. Time-course transcriptome analysis results revealed that the mechanism of adaptations to phenol was an evolutionary process that transitioned from tolerance to positive degradation through precise gene regulation at appropriate times. Specifically, basal stress gene expression was upregulated and contributed to phenol tolerance, which involved stress, DNA repair, membrane, efflux pump and antioxidant protein-coding genes, while a phenol degradation gene cluster was specifically induced. Interestingly, both the catechol and protocatechuate branches of the β-ketoadipate pathway contributed to the early stage of phenol degradation, but only the catechol branch was used in the late stage. In addition, pathways involving flagella, chemotaxis, ATP-binding cassette transporters and two-component systems were positively associated with strain survival under phenolic stress. This study provides the first insights into the specific response of Burkholderia sp. to high phenol stress and shows potential for application in remediation of polluted environments.
Key points
• Shock, DNA repair and antioxidant-related genes contributed to phenol tolerance.
• β-Ketoadipate pathway branches differed at different stages of phenol degradation.
• Adaptation mechanisms transitioned from negative tolerance to positive degradation.
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The sequencing data have been submitted in NCBI database and the accession number was PRJNA574558. The other data used to support the findings of this study are included in the article.
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We thank American Journal Experts (AJE) for English language editing.
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This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (81703777), the Science and Technology Department of the Shaanxi Province of China (2019ZDLNY01-02-01) and the Shaanxi Province Academy of Sciences of China (2015 k14).
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H.W., M.Y. and L.L. conceived and designed the research. M.Y., T.H. and L.M. conducted experiments. M.M. and P.Y. contributed new reagents or analytical tools. M.Y. and A.M. analysed data. M.Y. wrote the manuscript. All authors read and approved the manuscript.
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Ma, Y., Li, L., Awasthi, M.K. et al. Time-course transcriptome analysis reveals the mechanisms of Burkholderia sp. adaptation to high phenol concentrations. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 104, 5873–5887 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-020-10672-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-020-10672-2