thermophilus fitness in response to sudden increased of the temperature. As observed in other streptococcal strains [24, 25], the deletion of the rgg 0182 gene is not associated with a drastic modification of the survival to stress suggesting that this regulator is not essential but selleck kinase inhibitor important for heat stress adaptation. Furthermore, our results showed that cspB and clpE genes were 2-fold lower and 3-fold higher, respectively, in the mutant compared to the wild-type strain after the heat stress. Data from literature indicate that most

Csp proteins are required when cells are grown at low growth temperature [2, 3]. Thus, the Rgg0182 would learn more negatively control the production of CspB when the latter is not required. Moreover, in S. pneumoniae, the clpE gene has been demonstrated to be required for thermo-tolerance [33], therefore we hypothesize that the heat sensitivity of the S. thermophilus Δrgg

0182 mutant would result, at least partially, from a reduced level of ClpE expression. Alternatively, it is also conceivable that Rgg0182 regulates the transcription of other genes encoding proteins involved in the S. thermophilus heat stress Vorinostat supplier response. A transcriptomic analysis would identify all targets of this regulator within S. thermophilus LMG18311. Conclusions In conclusion, our study gave a better understanding of the thermal adaptation of the important dairy starter, S. thermophilus. These data showed the importance of the Rgg0182 transcriptional regulator on the survival of S. thermophilus during industrial processes and more specifically during changes in temperature. Methods

Bacterial strains, media and reagents Streptococcus thermophilus LMG18311 and its derivatives are presented in Table 1. S. thermophilus strains were grown at 30 or 42°C in M17 medium with lactose (10 g/l) (LM17, a classical Resminostat medium for S. thermophilus growth) [34] or in a chemically defined medium (CDM, a peptide free-medium) [35]. Pre-cultures were incubated at 42°C in milk medium except for the luciferase assays as mentioned below. For numeration, agar was added to the medium (15 g/l) and cells were incubated under anaerobic conditions using GENbox anaer in Generbox jars (bioMérieux SA, Marcy-l’Etoile, France). S. thermophilus strains containing the pG+host9 vector [36] were cultivated in the presence of erythromycin (final concentration 2 μg/ml) at 30°C when plasmid self-maintenance was required and at 42°C for selection of clones with the chromosome’s integrated plasmid. Table 1 Bacterial strains and plasmids used in this study Strains and plasmids Genotype/phenotype/source Origin or reference Streptococcus thermophilus LMG18311 Wild-type; isolated from yogurt.