Strand-specific RNA-Seq analysis provides first insight into transcriptome response of Vibrio alginolyticus to phage infection

RNA-Seq transcriptome analysis of bacteria during phage infection has been occasionally reported in last several years but little is known about how Vibrio bacteria respond to phage invasion on global transcriptome level. In the present study, transcriptome profiling of V. alginolyticus during a lytic phage infection was first investigated through strand-specific RNA-Seq analysis. The results revealed that 346 unigenes were up-regulated and 860 unigenes were down-regulated during the infection of phage Vp670. Notably, the unigenes involving in phosphorelay signal transduction system were largely down-regulated in infected V. alginolyticus cells. However, some unigenes in the GO terms (DNA binding and sequence-specific DNA binding transcription factor activity) were up-regulated including a csp gene coding cold shock protein. These transcriptome data contribute to a more comprehensive insight into cellular response of V. alginolyticus to phage infection and help us deeply understand the phage-host interplay on molecular levels.