Aptation to growth at pH9.0. (A) L. monocytogenes EGD-e was adapted to growth at pH7.3 (squares) and pH9.0 (circles) and challenged with 5 uM CCCP. Addition of CCCP is Rebaudioside A indicated (arrow). B) Relative lag time after an abrupt shift to low oxygen tension. Unfilled bars show aerobic culture. Filled bars show 1 (60.5) oxygen tension. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0054157.gConclusionsMudPIT analysis indicated that alkaline pH homeostasis in L. monocytogenes EGD-e results from multiple regulatory mechanisms driven by the necessity to increase cytoplasmic acidity, maintain cellular integrity, and get 4-IBP minimise other physical effects imparted by the extracellular environment. A key component of this response involves direct cytoplasmic acidification through the production, retention and importation of polar or charged proteins, peptides and amino acids. Furthermore, systems are mobilised that facilitate stabilisation of these and other regulatory proteins to prevent pH induced conformational changes that may lead to loss of function. This is coupled with an adaptive shift in energy metabolism that increases production of acidic by-products, ATP and reducing equivalents, to compensate for inhibition of other energy production pathways that are physically influenced by the extracellular pH environment. This includes restriction of the electron transport chain and inversion of the proton motive force to conserve protons that are being lost due to a charge-regulation effect, and to increase the pool of oxidised reducing equivalents. Importantly, the modified physiology of alkaline adapted L. monocytogenes matches that expected during anaerobiosis and allows for rapid growth (decreased lag time) following an abrupt shift to low oxygen tension. This is likely to be limited to very low oxygen tensions rather than strict anaerobiosis as increased recruitment of the aerobic Class Ia ribonucleotide reductase (RNR) system (e.g. lmo2155) was evident in the alkaline adapted cells, possibly in an effort to `scavenge’ the limited oxygen available, while the abundance of anaerobic Class III RNR (e.g. lmo2079) while increased, did not differ significantly. Class III RNR is essential for growth of L. monocytogenes under strict anaerobic conditions, and in L. monocytogenes EGD-e, this protein is non-functional due to a deletion in a key catalytic site [33]. Results from this work suggest that L. monocytogenes EGD-e is able 10457188 to grow at very low oxygen tensions and may still be a suitable strain for experiments using such conditions. This has important food safety implications, showing that alkaline adaptation in L. monocytogenes is able to generatea phenotype capable of proliferating in very low oxygen tensions faster than non-adapted cells. This has relevance to food packaging procedures that employ the removal of oxygen as a growth limiting hurdle. Consequently, the combination of food packaged under low oxygen tension and the potential for L. monocytogenes to become adapted to alkaline agents must be a consideration when assessing the risk of food contaminations by this organism. Further work is needed to investigate how this translates to the nutrient flux (including nutrient limitation) L. monocytogenes likely encounters within food processing and production environments.Supporting InformationTable S1 Proteins recovered from L. monocytogenes EGD-e after adaptation to growth in BHI media with the pH adjusted to 7.3 and 9.0. PER = Protein Error Rate; APPER = Average Pepti.Aptation to growth at pH9.0. (A) L. monocytogenes EGD-e was adapted to growth at pH7.3 (squares) and pH9.0 (circles) and challenged with 5 uM CCCP. Addition of CCCP is indicated (arrow). B) Relative lag time after an abrupt shift to low oxygen tension. Unfilled bars show aerobic culture. Filled bars show 1 (60.5) oxygen tension. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0054157.gConclusionsMudPIT analysis indicated that alkaline pH homeostasis in L. monocytogenes EGD-e results from multiple regulatory mechanisms driven by the necessity to increase cytoplasmic acidity, maintain cellular integrity, and minimise other physical effects imparted by the extracellular environment. A key component of this response involves direct cytoplasmic acidification through the production, retention and importation of polar or charged proteins, peptides and amino acids. Furthermore, systems are mobilised that facilitate stabilisation of these and other regulatory proteins to prevent pH induced conformational changes that may lead to loss of function. This is coupled with an adaptive shift in energy metabolism that increases production of acidic by-products, ATP and reducing equivalents, to compensate for inhibition of other energy production pathways that are physically influenced by the extracellular pH environment. This includes restriction of the electron transport chain and inversion of the proton motive force to conserve protons that are being lost due to a charge-regulation effect, and to increase the pool of oxidised reducing equivalents. Importantly, the modified physiology of alkaline adapted L. monocytogenes matches that expected during anaerobiosis and allows for rapid growth (decreased lag time) following an abrupt shift to low oxygen tension. This is likely to be limited to very low oxygen tensions rather than strict anaerobiosis as increased recruitment of the aerobic Class Ia ribonucleotide reductase (RNR) system (e.g. lmo2155) was evident in the alkaline adapted cells, possibly in an effort to `scavenge’ the limited oxygen available, while the abundance of anaerobic Class III RNR (e.g. lmo2079) while increased, did not differ significantly. Class III RNR is essential for growth of L. monocytogenes under strict anaerobic conditions, and in L. monocytogenes EGD-e, this protein is non-functional due to a deletion in a key catalytic site [33]. Results from this work suggest that L. monocytogenes EGD-e is able 10457188 to grow at very low oxygen tensions and may still be a suitable strain for experiments using such conditions. This has important food safety implications, showing that alkaline adaptation in L. monocytogenes is able to generatea phenotype capable of proliferating in very low oxygen tensions faster than non-adapted cells. This has relevance to food packaging procedures that employ the removal of oxygen as a growth limiting hurdle. Consequently, the combination of food packaged under low oxygen tension and the potential for L. monocytogenes to become adapted to alkaline agents must be a consideration when assessing the risk of food contaminations by this organism. Further work is needed to investigate how this translates to the nutrient flux (including nutrient limitation) L. monocytogenes likely encounters within food processing and production environments.Supporting InformationTable S1 Proteins recovered from L. monocytogenes EGD-e after adaptation to growth in BHI media with the pH adjusted to 7.3 and 9.0. PER = Protein Error Rate; APPER = Average Pepti.
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