Functional analysis of the temperature-sensing system in the human pathogenic vibrio

We successfully isolated strain NCT1154, which produces sufficient levels of VvsA at 37 °C, and strain F53, which exhibits negligible VvsA production at 26 °C. Comparative transcriptome analysis of these two mutants against the reference mutant, strain NCT776, revealed widespread alterations in temperature-dependent gene expression.

In strain NCT1154, 80 genes normally expressed at 26 °C in the reference strain were expressed at 37 °C. Conversely, in strain F53, 88 genes typically expressed at 37 °C were expressed at 26 °C. Furthermore, analysis of the temperature-responsive genes in the reference strain demonstrated that approximately 30% of the genes lost their temperature dependence in these mutants. Crucially, we identified the specific genes disrupted by Tn10 in both mutans.