Plague Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Plague, including details on bubonic plague, yersinia pestis, infection, types, treatment.

Microarray expression profiling of Yersinia pestis in response to chloramphenicol.

Qiu J, Zhou D, Qin L, Han Y, Wang X, DU Z, Song Y, Yang R

Laboratory of Analytical Microbiology, State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, National Center for Biomedical Analysis, Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Academy of Military Medical Sciences, Beijing, China.

Plague is a deadly disease caused by Yersinia pestis. Human plague can be effectively controlled by timely antibiotic administration, chloramphenicol being a drug of choice. In this study, a DNA microarray was used to investigate the gene expression profile of Y. pestis in response to chloramphenicol. Seven hundred and fifty-five genes were differentially expressed on chloramphenicol treatment: 364 genes were up-regulated and 391 were down-regulated. In addition to a large number of genes encoding unknown or unassigned functions, genes encoding the components of the translation apparatus, cell envelope and transport/binding functions were strongly represented amongst the induced genes. Genes encoding proteins involved in energy metabolism and synthesis and modification of macromolecules were strongly represented amongst the down-regulated genes. A number of heat-shock genes were also repressed. These global transcriptional changes provide an insight into the mechanisms of action of chloramphenicol against Y. pestis.

Published 8 September 2006 in FEMS Microbiol Lett, 263(1): 26-31.
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