title: RNA structures are involved in the thermoregulation of bacterial virulence-associated traits.
abstract: Pathogenic bacteria are exposed to temperature changes during colonization of the human body and during exposure to environmental conditions. Virulence-associated traits are mainly expressed by pathogenic bacteria at 37°C. We review different cases of post-transcriptional regulation of virulence-associated proteins through RNA structures (called RNA thermometers or RNATs) that modulate the translation of mRNAs. The analysis of RNATs in pathogenic bacteria has started to produce a comprehensive picture of the structures involved, and of the genes regulated by this mechanism. However, we are still not able to predict the functionality of putative RNATs predicted by bioinformatics methods, and there is not a global approach to measure the effect of these RNA structures in gene regulation during bacterial infections.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biología Molecular y Biotecnología, Instituto de Investigaciones, Biomédicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Tercer Circuito Escolar, Apartado Postal 70228, DF, México.
authors.forename: María Victoria
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Grosso-Becera
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biología Molecular y Biotecnología, Instituto de Investigaciones, Biomédicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Tercer Circuito Escolar, Apartado Postal 70228, DF, México.
authors.forename: Luis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Servín-González
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biología Molecular y Biotecnología, Instituto de Investigaciones, Biomédicas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Tercer Circuito Escolar, Apartado Postal 70228, DF, México. Electronic address: gloria@biomedicas.unam.mx.
authors.forename: Gloria
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Soberón-Chávez
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000472:pathogenicity / Q000528:radiation effects; D018407:Bacterial Physiological Phenomena; D001833:Body Temperature Regulation; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D012323:RNA Processing, Post-Transcriptional; D012329:RNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D013696:Temperature; D014774:Virulence; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D012329:RNA, Bacterial; D037521:Virulence Factors
keywords: RNA thermometers; bacterial virulence; thermoregulation