S. aureus est une bactérie pathogène opportuniste de l’homme qui pose un grave problème de santé publique. Le pouvoir pathogène de S. aureus est conféré par un très grand nombre de facteurs de virulence, dont l’expression est finement régulée à de multiples niveaux. Les effecteurs de cette régulation sont à la fois des protéines et des ARN non codants (ARNnc) aussi appelés ARN régulateurs. Je me suis concentré au cours de ma thèse sur la classe majoritaire qui sont les ARNnc qui régulent la traduction d’ARNm. Ils sont impliqués dans de complexes réseaux de régulation qui permettent de contrôler la physiologie de la cellule ainsi que sa virulence. Pour élargir nos connaissances de ces réseaux, j’ai développé deux approches méthodologiques, appelées MAPS et Grad-seq, que j’ai appliquées in vivo chez S. aureus en utilisant RsaA et RsaC comme modèles. L’application du MAPS a permis d’identifier de nouvelles cibles directes pour RsaA et des cibles potentielles pour RsaC. L’approche Grad-Seq est un outil puissant mais demande encore des ajustements. J’ai également pu déterminer un rôle probable pour l’ARNnc RsaC dans la régulation de l’homéostasie oxydo-réductive de S. aureus, en lien avec la résistance au stress oxydatif et avec la persistance lors de l’internalisation par les ostéoblastes. / S. aureus is an opportunistic pathogen of the human species which can express a large array of virulence factors whose expression is under tight regulation at multiple levels. The regulation can be done by proteins and by particular molecules of RNA called non-coding RNA (ncRNA). I focused during my thesis on the main category of ncRNA in S. aureus, which are regulating the translation of mRNA. These ARNs are involved in complex regulatory networks, impacting the physiology of the bacterial cell and its virulence. To understand further these networks, I developped two methodological approaches in vivo in S. aureus, called MAPS and Grad-seq, which were applied using RsaA and RsaC as models of studies. MAPS allowed to find new direct targets of RsaA and plausible targets for RsaC. The Grad-Seq method showed to be a powerful tool but still needs refinements. I also could determine a possible role for RsaC in the regulation of oxydo-reductive homeostasis, in direct link with oxydative stress resistance and persistance during internalisation by osteoblasts.

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Over the past years, small RNAs (smRNAs) have been identified as important molecular regulators of gene expression and specifically eukaryotic messenger RNAs (mRNAs). Small RNAs including small-interfering RNAs (siRNAs) and microRNAs (miRNAs) take part in the RNA silencing pathway and regulate various pathways in the cell including transcription, genome integrity, chromatin structure, mRNA stability, and translation. siRNAs are usually from exogenously derived molecules, while miRNAs are expressed endogenously by the genome. The RNA silencing pathway is highly conserved between organisms and plays a critical part in maintaining homeostasis, host-pathogen interaction, and disease progression. Thus, a better understanding of the RNA silencing pathway and probing of the molecules involved in the process is instrumental in developing tools that can better regulate the expression of specific genes. The viral suppressor of RNA silencing (VSRS) p19, is a 19 kDa protein that is expressed by tombusviruses and exhibits the highest reported affinity to small RNAs, including siRNA and miRNA. Further engineering of this protein acts as an interesting means to control the RNA silencing pathway and provides a platform to design novel tools to further modulate the activity of smRNAs in living systems. The ability to incorporate new and useful chemical functionality into proteins within living organisms has been greatly enhanced by technologies that expand the genetic code. These usually involve bioorthogonal transfer RNA (tRNA) /aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase (aaRS) pairs that can selectively incorporate an unnatural amino acid (UAA) site specifically into ribosomally synthesized proteins. Site-specificity is coded for by using a rare codon such as the amber stop codon. In Chapter 2, we demonstrate the engineering of p19 for the development of a Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) reporter system for the visualization of RNA delivery and release in cells using UAAs and bioorthogonal click chemistry, which was done by incorporating azidophenylalanine (AzF). In Chapter 3, by incorporating UAAs into p19’s binding pocket, we were able to enhance its smRNA suppressing activity by covalently trapping the bound substrates. We have demonstrated the engineering of a molecular switch that contains photo-crosslinking groups that covalently trap smRNAs. In Chapter 4, incorporating a metal-ion chelating UAA (2,2′-bipyridin-5-yl) alanine (BpyAla) into p19’s binding pocket has successfully led to site-specific cleavage of small RNAs including siRNAs and endogenous miRNAs. The genetic introduction of BpyAla provides a unique method of introducing catalytic activity into proteins of interest. The developed unnatural enzyme provides a new tool for catalytic suppression of the RNA silencing pathway. These results demonstrate the power of adding new chemistries to proteins using UAAs to achieve possible, diverse applications in therapy and biotechnology.

Resumo: As técnicas mais usadas atualmente para alterar o fluxo metabólico por uma determinada via são a deleção e/ou inserção de sequências regulatórias ou genes no cromossomo bacteriano. Estes são métodos que alteram permanentemente a via metabólica em questão, perturbando o balanço metabólico durante a fase lag de crescimento, o que muitas vezes leva a um excessivo prolongamento desta fase além de diminuir a viabilidade celular. O metabolismo de purinas em Bacillus subtilis tem grande potencial para manipulação genética e produz metabólitos com valor biotecnológico. Cinco riboswitches (purE, xpt, nupG, pbuE e pbuG) controlam o metabolismo de purina em B. subtilis promovendo a terminação precoce da transcrição em ligação com guanina ou adenina. O GTP gerado nesta via é utilizado na biossíntese da vitamina B2 (riboflavina), apresentando o mesmo mecanismo de regulação com riboswitch de flavina-monofosfato (ribDG). Neste estudo, um novo modelo de controle de metabolismo de purina foi construído visando o aumento reversível do fluxo de carbono pela via em B. subtilis utilizando pequenos RNAs não-codificadores sintéticos (sRNAs). Estes foram desenhados e sintetizados para interferir na regulação da expressão gênica realizada pelos riboswitches, mantendo assim a via biossintética ativa. Os riboswitches foram caracterizados por uma nova metodologia in vitro na presença dos ligantes guanina, adenina ou FMN, e nas células de B. subtilis, sendo possível constatar o papel regulador sobre o op... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: The currently employed tools to redirect metabolic flux through a specific pathway are deletion and/or insertion of regulatory sequences or genes in the bacterial chromosome. These methods permanently modify the pathway perturbing the metabolic balance during the lag growth phase, which generally extends this process and also decreases cell viability. The purine metabolism in Bacillus subtilis has great potential for genetic manipulation and produces value-added biotechnological products. Five riboswitches (purE, xpt, nupG, pbuE and pbuG) control the purine metabolism in B. subtilis by promoting the premature transcription termination guided by guanine or adenine levels in the cell. The GTP generated in this pathway is used in the biosynthesis of vitamin B2 (riboflavin), which is regulated by a flavin-monophosphate riboswitch (ribDG). In this study, a new metabolism control model was developed aiming to reversibly increase the carbon flux through selected pathways employing small synthetic non-coding RNAs (sRNAs). These sRNAs were designed and synthesized to interfere with the regulation of gene expression performed by the riboswitches, thus maintaining the biosynthetic pathways active. The riboswitches were characterized by a new in vitro methodology in the presence of the ligands: guanine, adenine or FMN. The riboswitches were characterized in B. subtilis cells using the luxABCDE bioluminescence operon as reporter. Synthetic sRNAs were designed in the Ribomaker software to ... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor

Les petits ARN régulateurs et les systèmes à deux composants sont des régulateurs très répandus de l’expression des gènes chez les bactéries. Dans la plupart des cas, les systèmes à deux composants agissent comme des régulateurs transcriptionnels. Un grand nombre de petits ARN agissent quant à eux au niveau post-transcriptionnel en modulant la traduction et/ou la stabilité de leur(s) ARN messager(s)-cible. Des connexions entre ces deux systèmes ont récemment pu mettre en lumière des circuits de régulations complexes aux propriétés encore peu connues.Mon travail a tout d’abord porté sur la connexion entre le système à deux composants EnvZ-OmpR et les petits ARN OmrA et OmrB chez Escherichia coli. Dans un premier temps, nous avons montré qu’OmpR activait directement la transcription d’omrA et d’omrB en se fixant à leur promoteur. Cette activation permet la production des petits ARN OmrA et OmrB qui, via leur extrémité 5’ conservée, ciblent à leur tour plusieurs ARN messagers-cibles et notamment le messager ompR-envZ. En accord avec des études précédentes, le contrôle d’ompR-envZ par les Omr n’affecte pas le niveau de forme phosphorylée d’OmpR. Ce phénomène posait donc la question de l’intérêt d’une telle régulation. Nous avons ensuite pu montrer que la régulation d’omrA et d’omrB est assez unique car leurs promoteurs répondent non seulement à la forme phosphorylée mais aussi à la forme non phosphorylée d’OmpR. Ce phénomène permet à ces ARN régulateurs de limiter leur propre synthèse en ayant un effet limité sur l’expression des autres cibles d’OmpR comme les porines OmpC et OmpF.Ce travail nous a conduits à chercher à caractériser d’autres exemples de modulation des systèmes à deux composants par des petits ARN régulateurs. Nous avons notamment étudié la régulation du système NarQ-NarP. En effet, nos travaux ont montré que la synthèse de narP était contrôlée par le petit ARN RprA. Cette régulation semble affecter les cibles de NarP et en particulier l’opéron napFDAGHBC. De plus, RprA répondrait au même stimulus que le système NarQ-NarP créant ainsi un lien physiologique entre le petit ARN et sa cible.Pour finir, un autre aspect de ce travail de thèse a été de s’intéresser à la régulation d’OmrA/B dans un contexte d’infection des macrophages par une souche d’Escherichia coli pathogène, la souche LF82. En effet, des données suggéraient que ces petits ARN étaient induits au cours de l’infection. J’ai pu valider ces données et montrer que cette induction était dépendante de la présence du système EnvZ/OmpR.En conclusion, j’ai pu montrer par diverses approches que les circuits de régulation intégrant des systèmes à deux composants et des petits ARN régulateurs possédaient des propriétés assez inédites permettant à la bactérie de s’adapter à divers stress. / Small regulatory RNA (sRNAs) and two component systems (TCS) are both widespread regulators of gene expression in bacteria. While TCS are mostly transcriptional regulators, a large class of sRNAs acts as post-transcriptional regulators of gene expression by modulating translation and/or stability of target-mRNAs. Many connections have recently been unraveled between these two types of regulators, resulting in mixed regulatory circuits with poorly characterized properties.First, we have investigated in details the negative feedback circuit that exists between the EnvZ-OmpR TCS and the OmrA/B sRNAs in Escherichia coli. We have found that OmpR directly activates transcription from omrA and omrB promoters, allowing production of OmrA/B sRNAs that target multiple mRNAs through their conserved 5’ end, including the ompR-envZ mRNA. In agreement with previous reports, we have found that this control of ompR-envZ by OmrA/B sRNAs does not affect the amount of OmpR-P i.e. the presumably active form of the regulator. This phenomenon therefore raised the question of the possible interest of such a regulation. Thereafter, we found that OmrA/B regulation is really unique because they respond to the phosphorylated form but also to the unphosphorylated form of OmpR. As a result, OmrA/B limit their own synthesis while they have only a limited effect on others targets of OmpR, such as the OmpC or OmpF porins.This work led us to try to characterize other examples of modulation of two-component systems synthesis by small regulatory RNAs. In particular, we studied the regulation of the NarQ-NarP system. Indeed, our work showed that the synthesis of narP is controlled by the RprA sRNA. This regulation appears to affect NarP targets and in particular the napFDAGHBC operon. Moreover, RprA would respond to the same stimulus as the NarQ-NarP system, thus creating a physiological link between the small RNA and its target.Finally, another aspect of this work was to study the regulation of OmrA/B in a context of infection of macrophages by an Escherichia coli pathogenic strain, LF82. Indeed, data suggested that these small RNAs were induced during infection. I was able to validate these data and showed that this induction was dependent on the presence of the EnvZ-OmpR system.

Chez les bactéries à Gram-négatif, l’imperméabilité de la membrane externe est un facteur majeur contribuant au développement de la résistance. Chez Escherichia coli, les porines OmpF et OmpC sont des protéines de la membrane externe qui forment des canaux pour la diffusion de petites molécules hydrophiles tels que les antibiotiques. L’expression des porines est soumise à une régulation fine, et des petits ARN non-codants (sRNAs, small RNAs) jouent un rôle important au niveau post-transcriptionnel. Dans ce cadre, et en utilisant E. coli comme bactérie modèle, les objectifs de mon travail de thèse étaient : (1) de caractériser la régulation du sRNA MicC et la co-régulation putative de la porine quiescente OmpN; (2) d’examiner l'effet global de MicC sur le transcriptome; (3) d’analyser l'impact de l'expression de MicC sur la sensibilité aux antibiotiques. Les résultats obtenus montrent l’induction de MicC en présence d'antibiotiques de la famille des β-lactamines, ou en l’absence du facteur sigma de réponse au stress de l’enveloppe sigmaE. Ces mêmes conditions activent aussi l'activité d'une fusion ompN-lacZ, indiquant une régulation transcriptionnelle commune de micC et ompN. Etant donnée la conservation de MicC chez les entérobactéries, nous avons effectué une étude par RNASeq pour déterminer l'impact de la surexpression de MicC sur le transcriptome d’E. coli et identifié 60 ARNm régulés par MicC en plus de sa cible initiale ompC. L'identification des spectres cibles globaux des sRNAs est importante pour comprendre leur importance dans la physiologie bactérienne, ici celui de MicC dans la résistance aux antibiotiques. / A major factor contributing to antimicrobial resistance is the inability of antibiotics to penetrate the bacterial outer membrane to reach their target. In Escherichia coli, the two abundantly expressed porins OmpF and OmpC form channels for diffusion of small hydrophilic molecules including antibiotics. The expression of porins is under complex regulation and the small regulatory RNAs (sRNAs) fine tune the porin expression level at post-transcriptional level. MicF and MicC are the two major sRNAs that negatively regulate expression of OmpF and OmpC, respectively. Interestingly, these two sRNAs are encoded next to porin gene, i.e. micF-ompC and micC-ompN, suggesting a dual regulation. Our goals in this work were: (1) to characterize the regulation of the sRNA MicC and the putative co-regulation of the quiescent porin OmpN in E. coli; (2) to examine the global effect of MicC on the E. coli transcriptome; (3) to analyze the impact of MicC expression on antibiotic susceptibility. Our work shows that the expression of micC was increased in the presence of carbapenems and cephalosporins and in an rpoE depleted mutant. The same conditions enhanced the expression of OmpN, suggesting a dual regulation of micC and ompN. We also performed RNA sequencing to determine the impact of MicC overexpression on E. coli transcriptome. This identified 60 mRNA targets negatively regulated by MicC apart from its original target. Identification of the global target spectra of MicC is of importance to understand its importance on the overall bacterial physiology, and more specifically on AMR.