Inference of the Transcriptional Regulatory Network in Staphylococcus aureus by Integration of Experimental and Genomics-Based Evidence

Transcriptional regulatory networks are fine-tuned systems that help microorganisms respond to changes in the environment and cell physiological state. We applied the comparative genomics approach implemented in the RegPredict Web server combined with SEED subsystem analysis and available information on known regulatory interactions for regulatory network reconstruction for the human pathogen Staphylococcus aureus and six related species from the family Staphylococcaceae. The resulting reference set of 46 transcription factor regulons contains more than 1,900 binding sites and 2,800 target genes involved in the central metabolism of carbohydrates, amino acids, and fatty acids; respiration; the stress response; metal homeostasis; drug and metal resistance; and virulence. The inferred regulatory network in S. aureus includes ∼320 regulatory interactions between 46 transcription factors and ∼550 candidate target genes comprising 20% of its genome. We predicted ∼170 novel interactions and 24 novel regulons for the control of the central metabolic pathways in S. aureus. The reconstructed regulons are largely variable in the Staphylococcaceae: only 20% of S. aureus regulatory interactions are conserved across all studied genomes. We used a large-scale gene expression data set for S. aureus to assess relationships between the inferred regulons and gene expression patterns. The predicted reference set of regulons is captured within the Staphylococcus collection in the RegPrecise database (http://regprecise.lbl.gov).