Regulatory RNAs in Bacteria

Abstract

RNA regulators in bacteria are a heterogenous group of molecules that act by various mechanisms to modulate a wide range of physiological responses. One class comprises riboswitches, which are parts of the mRNAs they regulate. These leader sequences fold into structures amenable to conformational changes upon the binding of small molecules. Riboswitches thus sense and respond to the availability of various nutrients in the cell. Other small transcripts bind to proteins, among them global regulators, and antagonize their functions. The largest and most extensively studied set of small RNA regulators act through base pairing with RNAs, usually modulating the translation and stability of mRNAs. The majority of these small RNAs regulate responses to changes in environmental conditions. Finally, a recently discovered group of RNA regulators, known as the CRISPR RNAs, contain short regions of homology to bacteriophage and plasmid sequences. CRISPR RNAs interfere with bacteriophage infection and plasmid conjugation by targeting the homologous foreign DNA through an unknown mechanism. Here we discuss what is known about these RNA regulators, as well as the many intriguing questions that remain to be addressed.