Oral Presentation 16th Asian Conference on Transcription 2019

tRNA modifications and oxidative stress response in Pseudomonas aeruginosa (1116)

Narumon Thongdee 1 , Juthamas Jaroensuk 1 , Sopapan Atichartpongkul 2 , Jurairat Chittrakanwong 1 , Paiboon Vattanaviboon 2 , Skorn Mongkolsuk 2 , Mayuree Fuangthong 2
  1. Applied Biological Sciences Program, Chulabhorn Graduate Institute, Lak Si, Bangkok, Thailand
  2. Laboratory of Biotechnology, Chulabhorn Research Institute, Lak Si, Bangkok, Thailand

tRNA modifications have been identified in a wide range of organisms, where they play a large variety of functions in different biological processes and cellular stress responses. A link between tRNA modifications and the oxidative stress response in Pseudomonas aeruginosa, an opportunistic human pathogen, was recently established in our previous work. We found that tRNA modifications located either inside or outside the anticodon loop contributed to H2Oresistance in P. aeruginosa. The loss of tRNA modifying genes, such as trmJ, trmB or trmA, altered the expression pattern of H2O2-responsive genes, resulting in H2Ohypersensitivity. Moreover, the level of certain tRNA modifications was shown to be reprogrammed as a part of the cellular response to H2Oexposure. We identified their enzymatic reactions, ribonucleoside modifications, tRNA substrates, and the locations of tRNA modifications. Characterization of the physiological role of tRNA modifications that confer H2Osensitivity would provide insight into the regulatory networks of the oxidative stress response, which is crucial for the pathogenicity of P. aeruginosa.