DNA macroarray profiling of Lactococcus lactis subsp lactis IL1403 gene expression during environmental stresses

This report describes the use of an oligonucleotide macroarray to profile the expression of 375 genes in Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis IL1403 during heat, acid, and osmotic stress. A set of known stress-associated genes in IL1403 was used as the internal control on the array. Every stress response was accurately detected using the macroarray, compared to data from previous reports. As a group, the expression patterns of the investigated metabolic genes were significantly altered by heat, acid, and osmotic stresses. Specifically, 13 to 18% of the investigated genes were differentially expressed in each of the environmental stress treatments. Interestingly, the methionine biosynthesis pathway genes (metA-metB1 and metB2-eysK) were induced during heat shock, but methionine utilization genes, such as metK, were induced during acid stress. These data provide a possible explanation for the diferences between acid tolerance mechanisms of L. lactis strains IL1403 and MG1363 reported previously. Several groups of transcriptional responses were common among the stress treatments, such as repression of peptide transporter genes, including the opt operon (also known as dpp) and dtpT. Reduction of peptide transport due to environmental stress will have important implications in the cheese ripening process. Although stress responses in lactococci were extensively studied during the last decade, additional information about this bacterium was gained from the use of this metabolic array.