Young researchers projects
Other projectsUnifyRNA
Role and mode of action of bacterial small RNAs in regulatory networks
Small regulatory RNAs (or sRNAs) play a key role in the ability of bacteria to adapt rapidly to their environment. They control the expression of many target genes, usually at post-transcriptional level. During the UnifyRNA project, a detailed mechanistic study of regulatory RNA demonstrated the existence of secondary structures in the coding region of certain mRNAs (messenger RNAs) that can activate translation initiation. These structures exist in different mRNAs and seem to be conserved in a large number of bacteria.
The project also found that several sRNAs target mRNAs that themselves encode regulators, transcriptional this time, belonging to two-component systems, which, like sRNAs, are widespread among bacteria and important for their response to the environment. Studying one of these regulatory circuits led to an unexpected observation: different targets are regulated by the phosphorylated or non-phosphorylated forms of one of these two-component system regulators.
ANR programme: Generic Call for Proposals, Young Researchers programme
Edition, project duration: 2014, 48 months
ANRgrant: € 260,000
Coordinator:
- Maude Guillier
Expression Génétique Microbienne (EGM) • CNRS Université • Paris Diderot • Institut de Biologie Physico-Chimique (IBPC)
maude.guillier@ibpc.fr
Project region: Île-de-France
Main publication or contribution:
- Brosse A., Korobeinikova A., Gottesman S. and Guillier M., 2016, Unexpected properties of sRNA promoters allow feedback control via regulation of a two-component system, Nucl. Acids Res., 44(20): 9650-9666.
- Jagodnik J., Chiaruttini C. and Guillier M., 2017, Stem-loop structures within mRNA coding sequences activate translation initiation and mediate control by small regulatory RNA, Molecular Cell, 68(1): 158-170.
The results suggest that there are many other connections between sRNAs and two-component systems, together with many other genes whose translation is activated by secondary structures after the start codon. These studies could be continued in a model bacterium such as Escherichia coli, but also in other bacteria, including pathogenic species.