Ni is recognized as an element that is toxic to humans, acting as an allergen and a carcinogenic agent, and it is also toxic to plants. The toxicity of Ni has been understudied in microorganisms. The data presented here were obtained by submitting the model bacterium Escherichia coli K-12 to nickel stress. To identify expressed genes, RNA-Seq was performed. Bacteria were exposed to 50 µM NiCl2 during 10 min. Exposure to Ni lead to the deregulation of 57% of the E. coli transcripts. Further analysis using DAVID identified most affected biological pathways. The list of differentially expressed genes and physiological consequences of Ni stress are described in "Ni exposure impacts the pool of free Fe and modifies DNA supercoiling via metal-induced oxidative stress in Escherichia coli K-12" (M. Gault, G. Effantin, A. Rodrigue, 2016) [1].
Keywords: Escherichia coli; RNA-Seq; nickel.