title: A small RNA serving both the Hfq and CsrA regulons.
abstract: The abundant RNA-binding proteins CsrA and Hfq each impact bacterial physiology by working in conjunction with small RNAs to control large post-transcriptional regulons. The small RNAs involved were considered mechanistically distinct, regulating mRNAs either directly through Hfq-mediated base-pairing or indirectly by sequestering the global translational repressor CsrA. In this issue of Genes & Development, Jørgensen and colleagues (pp. 1132-1145) blur these distinctions with a dual-mechanism small RNA that acts through both Hfq and CsrA to regulate the formation of bacterial biofilms.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Molecular Infection Biology, University of Würzburg, D-97080 Würzburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Erik
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Holmqvist
authors.forename: Jörg
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vogel
mesh_terms: D018441:Biofilms / Q000254:growth & development*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development*; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D012329:RNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D012329:RNA, Bacterial
keywords: CsrA; CsrB; Hfq; PGA; c-di-GMP