Temperature-dependent pattern of heat shock protein synthesis in psychrophilic and psychrotrophic microorganisms

Abstract

The patterns of proteins synthesized by the arctic psychrophilic bacterium Res-10 and the psychrotroph Bacillus psychrophilus during various heat shocks up to 32 °C were examined. Both microorganisms were found to display temperature-dependent patterns of heat shock protein synthesis. Elevation of the incubation temperature of the arctic psychrophile from 0 to 15, 20, 25, or 32 °C induced the synthesis of at least 19 heat shock proteins. Imposing similar heat shock upon cells of the psychrotroph resulted in the induction of at least 25 heat shock proteins. Examination of the effect of the transcriptional inhibitor rifampicin on the synthesis of heat shock proteins revealed that the primary control of heat shock protein synthesis lies at the transcriptional level in both microorganisms.