Given the poor survival of the S. oneidensis hfq∆ mutant in extended stationary phase, a period typically

characterized by increased oxidative stress [22, 23], we decided to explore the ability of the hfq∆ mutant to cope with oxidative stress. Exponentially growing cultures of MR-1/empty vector, MR-1/phfq, hfq∆/empty vector, and hfq∆/phfq were treated with either H2O2 to induce peroxide stress or methyl viologen to induce superoxide stress. Serial dilutions of these cultures were then plated, and the survival rates relative to mock (H2O) treated cultures were measured. The survivorship of each strain was determined by calculating the selleck products ratio of viable cells in the treated cultures to viable cells in the mock treated cultures. Strains with a wild type copy of hfq survived significantly better than the hfq∆/empty vector strain when challenged with either H2O2 (Figure 4A and 4B) or methyl viologen (Figure 4C and 4D). These data suggest that one function of S. oneidensis Hfq is to protect cells against

oxidative stress. Figure Ipatasertib price 4 The hfq∆ mutant is highly sensitive to oxidative stress. Aerobic, exponentially growing cultures of MR-1/empty vector, MR-1/phfq, hfq∆ /empty vector, and hfq∆ /phfq were treated for 15 minutes with either (A and B) 0.4 mM H2O2 or (C and D) 5mM methyl viologen (paraquat) and then immediately titered. Survivorship ratios were determined by calculating the ratio of the number of viable cells in the treated cultures to the number of viable cells in mock (H2O) treated cultures. Values on the Tryptophan synthase graphs are the mean survivorship ratios

for three independent experiments. Error bars in (A) and (C) indicate standard deviations. The hfq∆ /empty vector survival rate is statistically GW786034 nmr different from the other three strains in both the H2O2 and methyl viologen experiments (** indicates that P < 0.005 for comparison of the hfq∆ /empty vector strain data to each of the other strains in unpaired two-tailed Student’s T-tests). Panels (B) and (D) demonstrate typical ten-fold dilution series results obtained after treatment of strains MR-1/empty vector, MR-1/phfq, hfq∆ /empty vector, and hfq∆ /phfq with (B) H2O (mock) or H2O2 or (D) H2O (mock) or methyl viologen. Discussion and conclusions In this paper, we describe the construction and characterization of a null allele of the hfq gene in the bacterium S. oneidensis. Loss of the hfq gene produces an assortment of phenotypes, each of which is fully complemented by an exogenously supplied copy of the wild type hfq gene. To our knowledge, this is the first report of an hfq gene knockout in a dissimilatory metal reducing bacterium. Given the varied roles played by Hfq in diverse bacteria, we expect that this mutant will be both a useful tool for analyzing sRNA function in S. oneidensis as well as for understanding Hfq function in general. It is clear from our analyses that S.