RsaE is the only known trans-acting small regulatory RNA (sRNA) besides the ubiquitous 6S RNA that is conserved between the human pathogen Staphylococcus aureus and the soil-dwelling Firmicute Bacillus subtilis. Although a number of RsaE targets are known in S. aureus, neither the environmental signals that lead to its expression nor its physiological role are known. Here we show that expression of the B. subtilis homolog of RsaE is regulated by the presence of nitric oxide (NO) in the cellular milieu. Control of expression by NO is dependent on the ResDE two-component system in B. subtilis and we determined that the same is true in S. aureus. Transcriptome and proteome analyses revealed that many genes with functions related to oxidative stress and oxidation-reduction reactions were up-regulated in a B. subtilis strain lacking this sRNA. We have thus renamed it RoxS. The prediction of RoxS-dependent mRNA targets also suggested a significant enrichment for mRNAs related to respiration and electron transfer. Among the potential direct mRNA targets, we have validated the ppnKB mRNA, encoding an NAD+/NADH kinase, both in vivo and in vitro. RoxS controls both translation initiation and the stability of this transcript, in the latter case via two independent pathways implicating RNase Y and RNase III. Furthermore, RNase Y intervenes at an additional level by processing the 5′ end of the RoxS sRNA removing about 20 nucleotides. Processing of RoxS allows it to interact more efficiently with a second target, the sucCD mRNA, encoding succinyl-CoA synthase, thus expanding the repertoire of targets recognized by this sRNA.

Staphylococcus aureus produces a high number of RNAs for which the functions are poorly understood. Several non-coding RNAs carry a C-rich sequence suggesting that they regulate mRNAs at the post-transcriptional level. We demonstrate that the Sigma B-dependent RsaA RNA represses the synthesis of the global transcriptional regulator MgrA by forming an imperfect duplex with the Shine and Dalgarno sequence and a loop-loop interaction within the coding region of the target mRNA. These two recognition sites are required for translation repression. Consequently, RsaA causes enhanced production of biofilm and a decreased synthesis of capsule formation in several strain backgrounds. These phenotypes led to a decreased protection of S. aureus against opsonophagocytic killing by polymorphonuclear leukocytes compared to the mutant strains lacking RsaA. Mice animal models showed that RsaA attenuates the severity of acute systemic infections and enhances chronic catheter infection. RsaA takes part in a regulatory network that contributes to the complex interactions of S. aureus with the host immune system to moderate invasiveness and favour chronic infections. It is the first example of a conserved small RNA in S. aureus functioning as a virulence suppressor of acute infections. Because S. aureus is essentially a human commensal, we propose that RsaA has been positively selected through evolution to support commensalism and saprophytic interactions with the host.

Staphylococcus aureus RNAIII is the intracellular effector of the quorum sensing system that temporally controls a large number of virulence factors including exoproteins and cell-wall-associated proteins. Staphylocoagulase is one major virulence factor, which promotes clotting of human plasma. Like the major cell surface protein A, the expression of staphylocoagulase is strongly repressed by the quorum sensing system at the post-exponential growth phase. Here we used a combination of approaches in vivo and in vitro to analyze the mechanism used by RNAIII to regulate the expression of staphylocoagulase. Our data show that RNAIII represses the synthesis of the protein through a direct binding with the mRNA. Structure mapping shows that two distant regions of RNAIII interact with coa mRNA and that the mRNA harbors a conserved signature as found in other RNAIII-target mRNAs. The resulting complex is composed of an imperfect duplex masking the Shine-Dalgarno sequence of coa mRNA and of a loop-loop interaction occurring downstream in the coding region. The imperfect duplex is sufficient to prevent the formation of the ribosomal initiation complex and to repress the expression of a reporter gene in vivo. In addition, the double-strand-specific endoribonuclease III cleaves the two regions of the mRNA bound to RNAIII that may contribute to the degradation of the repressed mRNA. This study validates another direct target of RNAIII that plays a role in virulence. It also illustrates the diversity of RNAIII-mRNA topologies and how these multiple RNAIII-mRNA interactions would mediate virulence regulation.

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In bacteria, stable RNA structures that sequester ribosome-binding sites (RBS) impair translation initiation, and thus protein output. In some cases, ribosome standby can overcome inhibition by structure: 30S subunits bind sequence-nonspecifically to a single-stranded region and, on breathing of the inhibitory structure, relocate to the RBS for initiation. Standby can occur over long distances, as in the active, +42 tisB mRNA, encoding a toxin. This mRNA is translationally silenced by an antitoxin sRNA, IstR-1, that base pairs to the standby site. In tisB and other cases, a direct interaction between 30S subunits and a standby site has remained elusive. Based on fluorescence anisotropy experiments, ribosome toeprinting results, in vitro translation assays, and cross-linking–immunoprecipitation (CLIP) in vitro, carried out on standby-proficient and standby-deficient tisB mRNAs, we provide a thorough characterization of the tisB standby site. 30S subunits and ribosomal protein S1 alone display high-affinity binding to standby-competent fluorescein-labeled +42 mRNA, but not to mRNAs that lack functional standby sites. Ribosomal protein S1 is essential for standby, as 30∆S1 subunits do not support standby-dependent toeprints and TisB translation in vitro. S1 alone- and 30S-CLIP followed by RNA-seq mapping shows that the functional tisB standby site consists of the expected single-stranded region, but surprisingly, also a 5′-end stem-loop structure. Removal of the latter by 5′-truncations, or disruption of the stem, abolishes 30S binding and standby activity. Based on the CLIP-read mapping, the long-distance standby effect in +42 tisB mRNA (∼100 nt) is tentatively explained by S1-dependent directional unfolding toward the downstream RBS.

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VirF, an AraC-like activator, is required to trigger a regulatory cascade that initiates the invasive program of Shigella spp., the etiological agents of bacillary dysentery in humans. VirF expression is activated upon entry into the host and depends on many environmental signals. Here, we show that the virF mRNA is translated into two proteins, the major form, VirF30 (30 kDa), and the shorter VirF21 (21 kDa), lacking the N-terminal segment. By site-specific mutagenesis and toeprint analysis, we identified the translation start sites of VirF30 and VirF21 and showed that the two different forms of VirF arise from differential translation. Interestingly, in vitro and in vivo translation experiments showed that VirF21 is also translated from a leaderless mRNA (llmRNA) whose 5′ end is at position +309/+310, only 1 or 2 nucleotides upstream of the ATG84 start codon of VirF21. The llmRNA is transcribed from a gene-internal promoter, which we identified here. Functional analysis revealed that while VirF30 is responsible for activation of the virulence system, VirF21 negatively autoregulates virF expression itself. Since VirF21 modulates the intracellular VirF levels, this suggests that transcription of the llmRNA might occur when the onset of the virulence program is not required. We speculate that environmental cues, like stress conditions, may promote changes in virF mRNA transcription and preferential translation of llmRNA.

Small RNAs post‐transcriptionally regulate many processes in bacteria. Base‐pairing of sRNAs near ribosome‐binding sites in mRNAs inhibits translation, often requiring the RNA chaperone Hfq. In the canonical model, Hfq simultaneously binds sRNAs and mRNA targets to accelerate pairing. Here, we show that the Escherichia coli sRNAs OmrA and OmrB inhibit translation of the diguanylate cyclase DgcM (previously: YdaM), a player in biofilm regulation. In OmrA/B repression of dgcM, Hfq is not required as an RNA interaction platform, but rather unfolds an inhibitory RNA structure that impedes OmrA/B binding. This restructuring involves distal face binding of Hfq and is supported by RNA structure mapping. A corresponding mutant protein cannot support inhibition in vitro and in vivo; proximal and rim mutations have negligible effects. Strikingly, OmrA/B‐dependent translational inhibition in vitro is restored, in complete absence of Hfq, by a deoxyoligoribonucleotide that base‐pairs to the biochemically mapped Hfq site in dgcM mRNA. We suggest that Hfq‐dependent RNA structure remodeling can promote sRNA access, which represents a mechanism distinct from an interaction platform model.