What transcriptomics and proteomics can tell us about a high borate perturbed boron tolerant Bacilli strain†

Abstract

A variety of genes work together to allow the bacterium Lysinibacillus sp. OL1 to survive and grow under B-stress circumstances. This bacterium was previously identified and described from agricultural soil treated with a boron fertilizer. The effects of B-stress on OL1 cells cultured in the presence of 200 mM boric acid were evaluated as changes in the log-phase cell transcriptome and proteome. OL1 has been found to upregulate all genes involved in producing critical macromolecules when exposed to B-stress. It was also observed that genes governing energy supply lines were in higher expression stages, indicating that they were more likely to support the increased production of macromolecules and stress-induced proteins, such as efflux proteins, to reduce boron damage and prevent boron accumulation inside the cell. It has been explained how the hub genes and bottleneck genes cooperate to survive boron stress and support bacterial growth. The proteome results have significantly confirmed the boron tolerance paradigm. Thus, the current study has improved our understanding of the bacterial B-stress response mechanism and opened new research directions.