Vibrio fischeri is a cosmopolitan marine bacterium that oftentimes displays different colony morphologies, switching from a smooth to a wrinkly phenotype in order to adapt to changes in the environment. This wrinkly phenotype has also been associated with increased biofilm formation, an essential characteristic for V. fischeri to adhere to substrates, to suspended debris, and within the light organs of sepiolid squids. Elevated levels of biofilm formation are correlated with increased microbial survival of exposure to environmental stressors and the ability to expand niche breadth. Since V. fischeri has a biphasic life history strategy between its free-living and symbiotic states, we were interested in whether the wrinkly morphotype demonstrated differences in its expression profile in comparison to the naturally occurring and more common smooth variant. We show that genes involved in major biochemical cascades, including those involved in protein sorting, oxidative stress, and membrane transport, play a role in the wrinkly phenotype. Interestingly, only a few unique genes are specifically involved in macromolecule biosynthesis in the wrinkly phenotype, which underlies the importance of other pathways utilized for adaptation under the conditions in which Vibrio bacteria are producing this change in phenotype. These results provide the first comprehensive analysis of the complex form of genetic activation that underlies the diversity in morphologies of V. fischeri when switching between two different colony morphotypes, each representing a unique biofilm ecotype.

中文翻译：

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鉴定费氏弧菌皱纹和平滑表型的转录组网络

费氏弧菌是一种世界性的海洋细菌，通常表现出不同的菌落形态，从光滑的表型转变为皱纹的表型，以适应环境的变化。这种皱表型也与生物膜形成的增加有关，对于本质特征V.鲵粘附到基底，悬浮碎屑和内sepiolid鱿鱼的光器官。高水平的生物膜形成与暴露于环境胁迫下的微生物存活率增加和扩展利基宽度的能力有关。自费氏弧菌以来在其自由生存和共生状态之间具有双相生命历史策略，我们感兴趣的是，与自然存在且更常见的平滑变体相比，皱纹形态在其表达谱上是否表现出差异。我们显示参与主要生化级联的基因，包括那些参与蛋白质分选，氧化应激和膜运输的基因，在皱纹表型中起作用。有趣的是，只有少数独特的基因专门参与皱纹表型的大分子生物合成，这奠定了在弧菌条件下用于适应的其他途径的重要性。细菌正在产生这种表型变化。这些结果提供了遗传活化的复杂的形式构成了这一多样性的形态的第一综合分析V.鲵两种不同的集落形态之间进行切换时，每个代表一个独特的生态型的生物膜。