title: A small RNA encoded in the Rv2660c locus of Mycobacterium tuberculosis is induced during starvation and infection.
abstract: Enhanced transcription of the Rv2660c locus in response to starvation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv encouraged addition of the predicted Rv2660c protein to an improved vaccine formulation. Using strand-specific RNA sequencing, we show that the up-regulated transcript is in fact a small RNA encoded on the opposite strand to the annotated Rv2660c. The transcript originates within a prophage and is expressed only in strains that carry PhiRv2. The small RNA contains both host and phage sequences and provides a useful biomarker to monitor bacterial starvation during infection and/or non-replicating persistence. Using different approaches we do not find any evidence of Rv2660c at the level of mRNA or protein. Further efforts to understand the mechanism by which Rv2660c improves efficacy of the H56 vaccine are likely to provide insights into the pathology and immunology of tuberculosis.
authors.affiliation: Division of Mycobacterial Research, MRC National Institute for Medical Research, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Joanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Houghton
authors.affiliation: Division of Mycobacterial Research, MRC National Institute for Medical Research, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Teresa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Cortes
authors.affiliation: ETH Zurich, Institute of Molecular Systems Biology, Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Olga
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Schubert
authors.affiliation: Division of Mycobacterial Research, MRC National Institute for Medical Research, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Graham
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rose
authors.affiliation: Division of Mycobacterial Research, MRC National Institute for Medical Research, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rodgers
authors.affiliation: Division of Mycobacterial Research, MRC National Institute for Medical Research, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Megan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: De Ste Croix
authors.affiliation: ETH Zurich, Institute of Molecular Systems Biology, Zurich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Rudolf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Aebersold
authors.affiliation: Division of Mycobacterial Research, MRC National Institute for Medical Research, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Douglas B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Young
authors.affiliation: Division of Mycobacterial Research, MRC National Institute for Medical Research, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Kristine B
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Arnvig
mesh_terms: D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D002460:Cell Line; D006801:Humans; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000276:immunology; D014771:Virion / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger