title: Riboregulation of bacterial and archaeal transposition.
abstract: The coexistence of transposons with their hosts depends largely on transposition levels being tightly regulated to limit the mutagenic burden associated with frequent transposition. For 'DNA-based' (class II) bacterial transposons there is growing evidence that regulation through small noncoding RNAs and/or the RNA-binding protein Hfq are prominent mechanisms of defense against transposition. Recent transcriptomics analyses have identified many new cases of antisense RNAs (asRNA) that potentially could regulate the expression of transposon-encoded genes giving the impression that asRNA regulation of DNA-based transposons is much more frequent than previously thought. Hfq is a highly conserved bacterial protein that plays a central role in posttranscriptional gene regulation and stress response pathways in many bacteria. Three different mechanisms for Hfq-directed control of bacterial transposons have been identified to date highlighting the versatility of this protein as a regulator of bacterial transposons. There is also evidence emerging that some DNA-based transposons encode RNAs that could regulate expression of host genes. In the case of IS200, which appears to have lost its ability to transpose, contributing a regulatory RNA to its host could account for the persistence of this mobile element in a wide range of bacterial species. It remains to be seen how prevalent these transposon-encoded RNA regulators are, but given the relatively large amount of intragenic transcription in bacterial genomes, it would not be surprising if new examples are forthcoming. WIREs RNA 2016, 7:382-398. doi: 10.1002/wrna.1341 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website.
authors: Department of Biochemistry, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada.
authors: Michael J
authors: MJ
authors: Ellis
authors: Department of Biochemistry, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada.
authors: David B
authors: DB
authors: Haniford
mesh_terms: D001105:Archaea / Q000235:genetics*; D001419:Bacteria / Q000235:genetics*; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D019848:Gene Expression Regulation, Archaeal; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D035001:Host Factor 1 Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D058727:RNA, Small Untranslated / Q000378:metabolism*; D011995:Recombination, Genetic
chemical_list: D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D035001:Host Factor 1 Protein; D058727:RNA, Small Untranslated