Abstract
BackgroundHalobacterium sp. NRC-1 is an extremely halophilic archaeon and has adapted to optimal growth under conditions of extremely high salinity. Its proteome is highly acidic with a median pI of 4.9, a unique characteristic which helps the organism to adapt high saline environment. In the natural growth environment, Halobacterium NRC-1 encounters a number of stressful conditions including high temperature and intense solar radiation, oxidative and cold stress. Heat shock proteins and chaperones play indispensable roles in an organism's survival under many stress conditions. The aim of this study was to develop an improved method of 2-D gel electrophoresis with enhanced resolution of the acidic proteome, and to identify proteins with diverse cellular functions using in-gel digestion and LC-MS/MS and MALDI-TOF approach.ResultsA modified 2-D gel electrophoretic procedure, employing IPG strips in the range of pH 3–6, enabled improved separation of acidic proteins relative to previous techniques. Combining experimental data from 2-D gel electrophoresis with available genomic information, allowed the identification of at least 30 cellular proteins involved in many cellular functions: stress response and protein folding (CctB, PpiA, DpsA, and MsrA), DNA replication and repair (DNA polymerase A α subunit, Orc4/CDC6, and UvrC), transcriptional regulation (Trh5 and ElfA), translation (ribosomal proteins Rps27ae and Rphs6 of the 30 S ribosomal subunit; Rpl31eand Rpl18e of the 50 S ribosomal subunit), transport (YufN), chemotaxis (CheC2), and housekeeping (ThiC, ThiD, FumC, ImD2, GapB, TpiA, and PurE). In addition, four gene products with undetermined function were also identified: Vng1807H, Vng0683C, Vng1300H, and Vng6254. To study the heat shock response of Halobacterium NRC-1, growth conditions for heat shock were determined and the proteomic profiles under normal (42°C), and heat shock (49°C) conditions, were compared. Using a differential proteomic approach in combination with available genomic information, bioinformatic analysis revealed five putative heat shock proteins that were upregulated in cells subjected to heat stress at 49°C, namely DnaJ, GrpE, sHsp-1, Hsp-5 and sHsp-2.ConclusionThe modified 2-D gel electrophoresis markedly enhanced the resolution of the extremely acidic proteome of Halobacterium NRC-1. Constitutive expression of stress proteins and chaperones help the organism to adapt and survive under extreme salinity and other stress conditions. The upregulated expression pattern of putative chaperones DnaJ, GrpE, sHsp-1, Hsp-5 and sHsp-2 under elevated temperature clearly suggests that Halobacterium NRC-1 has a sophisticated defense mechanism to survive in extreme environments.
Highlights
IntroductionIn the natural growth environment, Halobacterium NRC-1 encounters a number of stressful conditions including high temperature and intense solar radiation, oxidative and cold stress
The results indicate that small heat shock proteins (sHsp), DnaJ and GrpE are part of chaperone network which help in refolding of denatured proteins and help normal proteins maintain their native folding state under severe stress [46]
The present report has attempted to optimize conditions to resolve the acidic proteome of Halobacterium NRC-1
Summary
In the natural growth environment, Halobacterium NRC-1 encounters a number of stressful conditions including high temperature and intense solar radiation, oxidative and cold stress. The organism has the capability to adapt to 4.5 M of salt and exhibit growth up to about 50°C, albeit at reduced rate It responds to a wide range of environmental perturbations including intense solar radiation, high temperature, cold, high salinity and oxidative stress [1,2,3]. The organism is genetically tractable with a wide variety of genetic tools, including cloning vectors, selectable markers, and a facile gene knockout system [5] These facts, together with the availability of its complete genome sequence [4], make Halobacterium sp. NRC-1 an ideal system for studying responses to environmental perturbations
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