title: Auto-assembly of E. coli DsrA small noncoding RNA: Molecular characteristics and functional consequences.
abstract: RNA molecules are important factors involved in different cellular processes and have a multitude of roles in the cell. These roles include serving as a temporary copy of genes used for protein synthesis or functions in translational machinery. Interestingly, RNA is so far the only biological molecule that serves both as a catalyst (like proteins) and as information storage (like DNA). However, in contrast to proteins well known to be able to self-associate in order to maintain the architecture of the cell, such RNA polymers are not prevalent in cells and are usually not favored by the flexibility of this molecule. In this work, we present evidence that such a polymer of a natural RNA, the DsrA RNA, exists in the bacterial cell. DsrA is a small noncoding RNA (87 nucleotides) of Escherichia coli that acts by base-pairing to mRNA in order to control the translation and the turnover of some mRNA, including rpoS mRNA, which encodes the sigma(s) RNA polymerase subunit involved in bacterial stress response. A putative model is proposed for the structure of this RNA polymer. Although the function of this polymerization is not known completely, we propose that the formation of such a structure could be involved in the regulation of DsrA ncRNA concentration in vivo or in a quality control mechanism used by the cell to eliminate misfolded RNAs.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire Jean Perrin, FRE 3231 CNRS-Univ Paris 6, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Bastien
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Cayrol
authors.forename: Frédéric
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Geinguenaud
authors.forename: Jérôme
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lacoste
authors.forename: Florent
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Busi
authors.forename: Jacques
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Le Dérout
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Piétrement
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Le Cam
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Régnier
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lavelle
authors.forename: Véronique
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Arluison
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D001704:Biopolymers / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics*; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D009691:Nucleic Acid Denaturation; D058727:RNA, Small Untranslated; D022661:RNA, Untranslated / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D012260:Ribonucleases / Q000378:metabolism; D013056:Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared
chemical_list: D001704:Biopolymers; C405431:DsrA RNA, E coli; D058727:RNA, Small Untranslated; D022661:RNA, Untranslated; D012260:Ribonucleases