RNA thermometers.
Temperature is an important parameter that free-living cells monitor constantly. The expression of heat-shock, cold-shock and some virulence genes is coordinated in response to temperature changes. Apart from protein-mediated transcriptional control mechanisms, translational control by RNA thermometers is a widely used regulatory strategy. RNA thermometers are complex RNA structures that change their conformation in response to temperature. Most, but not all, RNA thermometers are located in the 5'-untranslated region and mask ribosome-binding sites by base pairing at low temperatures. Melting of the structure at increasing temperature permits ribosome access and translation initiation. Different cis-acting RNA thermometers and a trans-acting thermometer will be presented.
Narberhaus
Franz
F
Lehrstuhl für Biologie der Mikroorganismen, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Bochum, Germany. franz.narberhaus@rub.de
Waldminghaus
Torsten
T
Chowdhury
Saheli
S
D000818:Animals; D001419:Bacteria / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000472:pathogenicity; D001483:Base Sequence; D004330:Drosophila / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D018869:Heat-Shock Response; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D012323:RNA Processing, Post-Transcriptional; D012329:RNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
D012329:RNA, Bacterial; D012333:RNA, Messenger