Stress responses in Prochlorococcus MIT9313 vs. SS120 involve differential expression of genes encoding proteases ClpP, FtsH and Lon

Prochlorococcus is a marine cyanobacterium responsible for a significant part of global primary production as well as being one of the most abundant organisms on Earth. Protein turnover is an essential and poorly understood aspect of the cyanobacterial response to environmental stresses. In the present work, cultures of the SS120 and MIT9313 strains were subjected to several conditions, and quantitative real time RT-PCR was used to measure changes in the expression of genes encoding three representative ATP-dependent proteases. We found common responses to conditions such as aging. However, the expression pattern under nutrient starvation was strikingly different in the two strains, probably reflecting the different regulatory backgrounds of the two ecotypes here studied.