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Global transcriptomic analysis of the response of Corynebacterium glutamicum to ferulic acid

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Abstract

Corynebacterium glutamicum can survive by using ferulic acid as the sole carbon source. In this study, we assessed the response of C. glutamicum to ferulic acid stress by means of a global transcriptional response analysis. The transcriptional data showed that several genes involved in degradation of ferulic acid were affected. Moreover, several genes related to the stress response; protein protection or degradation and DNA repair; replication, transcription and translation; and the cell envelope were differentially expressed. Deletion of the katA or sigE gene in C. glutamicum resulted in a decrease in cell viability under ferulic acid stress. These insights will facilitate further engineering of model industrial strains, with enhanced tolerance to ferulic acid to enable easy production of biofuels from lignocellulose.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 31270078, 31370150 and 31500087), Key Science and Technology R&D Program of Shaanxi Province, China (2014K02-12-01) and the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province, China (ZR2015CM012).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Crop Stress Biology for Arid Areas and College of Life Sciences, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, 712100, Shaanxi, China

    Can Chen, Junfeng Pan, Xiaobing Yang, He Xiao, Yaoling Zhang, Meiru Si, Xihui Shen & Yao Wang

  2. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Life Sciences, Northwest A&F University, Yangling, 712100, Shaanxi, China

    Can Chen, Junfeng Pan, He Xiao & Yao Wang

  3. College of Life Science and Agronomy, Zhoukou Normal University, Zhoukou, 466001, Henan, China

    Can Chen

  4. College of Life Sciences, Qufu Normal University, Qufu, 273165, Shandong, China

    Meiru Si

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  1. Can Chen
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  2. Junfeng Pan
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  4. He Xiao
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Xihui Shen or Yao Wang.

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Communicated by Jorge Membrillo-Hernández.

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Chen, C., Pan, J., Yang, X. et al. Global transcriptomic analysis of the response of Corynebacterium glutamicum to ferulic acid. Arch Microbiol 199, 325–334 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00203-016-1306-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00203-016-1306-5

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