CRISPR/Cas systems constitute a widespread class of immunity systems that protect bacteria and archaea against phages and plasmids, and commonly use repeat/spacer-derived short crRNAs to silence foreign nucleic acids in a sequence-specific manner. Although the maturation of crRNAs represents a key event in CRISPR activation, the responsible endoribonucleases (CasE, Cas6, Csy4) are missing in many CRISPR/Cas subtypes. Here, differential RNA sequencing of the human pathogen Streptococcus pyogenes uncovered tracrRNA, a trans-encoded small RNA with 24 nucleotide complementarity to the repeat regions of crRNA precursor transcripts. We show that tracrRNA directs the maturation of crRNAs by the activities of the widely conserved endogenous RNase III and the CRISPR-associated Csn1 protein; all these components are essential to protect S. pyogenes against prophage-derived DNA. Our study reveals a novel pathway of small guide RNA maturation and the first example of a host factor (RNase III) required for bacterial RNA-mediated immunity against invaders.

Genome sequencing of Helicobacter pylori has revealed the potential proteins and genetic diversity of this prevalent human pathogen, yet little is known about its transcriptional organization and noncoding RNA output. Massively parallel cDNA sequencing (RNA-seq) has been revolutionizing global transcriptomic analysis. Here, using a novel differential approach (dRNA-seq) selective for the 5' end of primary transcripts, we present a genome-wide map of H. pylori transcriptional start sites and operons. We discovered hundreds of transcriptional start sites within operons, and opposite to annotated genes, indicating that complexity of gene expression from the small H. pylori genome is increased by uncoupling of polycistrons and by genome-wide antisense transcription. We also discovered an unexpected number of approximately 60 small RNAs including the epsilon-subdivision counterpart of the regulatory 6S RNA and associated RNA products, and potential regulators of cis- and trans-encoded target messenger RNAs. Our approach establishes a paradigm for mapping and annotating the primary transcriptomes of many living species.

Recent advances in high-throughput pyrosequencing (HTPS) technology now allow a thorough analysis of RNA bound to cellular proteins, and, therefore, of post-transcriptional regulons. We used HTPS to discover the Salmonella RNAs that are targeted by the common bacterial Sm-like protein, Hfq. Initial transcriptomic analysis revealed that Hfq controls the expression of almost a fifth of all Salmonella genes, including several horizontally acquired pathogenicity islands (SPI-1, -2, -4, -5), two sigma factor regulons, and the flagellar gene cascade. Subsequent HTPS analysis of 350,000 cDNAs, derived from RNA co-immunoprecipitation (coIP) with epitope-tagged Hfq or control coIP, identified 727 mRNAs that are Hfq-bound in vivo. The cDNA analysis discovered new, small noncoding RNAs (sRNAs) and more than doubled the number of sRNAs known to be expressed in Salmonella to 64; about half of these are associated with Hfq. Our analysis explained aspects of the pleiotropic effects of Hfq loss-of-function. Specifically, we found that the mRNAs of hilD (master regulator of the SPI-1 invasion genes) and flhDC (flagellar master regulator) were bound by Hfq. We predicted that defective SPI-1 secretion and flagellar phenotypes of the hfq mutant would be rescued by overexpression of HilD and FlhDC, and we proved this to be correct. The combination of epitope-tagging and HTPS of immunoprecipitated RNA detected the expression of many intergenic chromosomal regions of Salmonella. Our approach overcomes the limited availability of high-density microarrays that have impeded expression-based sRNA discovery in microorganisms. We present a generic strategy that is ideal for the systems-level analysis of the post-transcriptional regulons of RNA-binding proteins and for sRNA discovery in a wide range of bacteria.

There has been an increasing interest in cyanobacteria because these photosynthetic organisms convert solar energy into biomass and because of their potential for the production of biofuels. However, the exploitation of cyanobacteria for bioengineering requires knowledge of their transcriptional organization. Using differential RNA sequencing, we have established a genome-wide map of 3,527 transcriptional start sites (TSS) of the model organism Synechocystis sp. PCC6803. One-third of all TSS were located upstream of an annotated gene; another third were on the reverse complementary strand of 866 genes, suggesting massive antisense transcription. Orphan TSS located in intergenic regions led us to predict 314 noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs). Complementary microarray-based RNA profiling verified a high number of noncoding transcripts and identified strong ncRNA regulations. Thus, ∼64% of all TSS give rise to antisense or ncRNAs in a genome that is to 87% protein coding. Our data enhance the information on promoters by a factor of 40, suggest the existence of additional small peptide-encoding mRNAs, and provide corrected 5′ annotations for many genes of this cyanobacterium. The global TSS map will facilitate the use of Synechocystis sp. PCC6803 as a model organism for further research on photosynthesis and energy research.gene expression regulation | promoter prediction | RNA polymerase

The interactions of numerous regulatory small RNAs (sRNAs) with target mRNAs have been characterized, but how sRNAs can regulate multiple, structurally unrelated mRNAs is less understood. Here we show that Salmonella GcvB sRNA directly acts on seven target mRNAs that commonly encode periplasmic substrate-binding proteins of ABC uptake systems for amino acids and peptides. Alignment of GcvB homologs of distantly related bacteria revealed a conserved G/U-rich element that is strictly required for GcvB target recognition. Analysis of target gene fusion regulation in vivo, and in vitro structure probing and translation assays showed that GcvB represses its target mRNAs by binding to extended C/A-rich regions, which may also serve as translational enhancer elements. In some cases (oppA, dppA), GcvB repression can be explained by masking the ribosome-binding site (RBS) to prevent 30S subunit binding. However, GcvB can also effectively repress translation by binding to target mRNAs at upstream sites, outside the RBS. Specifically, GcvB represses gltI mRNA translation at the C/A-rich target site located at positions −57 to −45 relative to the start codon. Taken together, our study suggests highly conserved regions in sRNAs and mRNA regions distant from Shine-Dalgarno sequences as important elements for the identification of sRNA targets.[Keywords: Small RNA; riboregulator; post-transcriptional control; translation inhibition; ABC transporter; GcvB] Supplemental material is available at http://www.genesdev.org.

Campylobacter jejuni is currently the leading cause of bacterial gastroenteritis in humans. Comparison of multiple Campylobacter strains revealed a high genetic and phenotypic diversity. However, little is known about differences in transcriptome organization, gene expression, and small RNA (sRNA) repertoires. Here we present the first comparative primary transcriptome analysis based on the differential RNA–seq (dRNA–seq) of four C. jejuni isolates. Our approach includes a novel, generic method for the automated annotation of transcriptional start sites (TSS), which allowed us to provide genome-wide promoter maps in the analyzed strains. These global TSS maps are refined through the integration of a SuperGenome approach that allows for a comparative TSS annotation by mapping RNA–seq data of multiple strains into a common coordinate system derived from a whole-genome alignment. Considering the steadily increasing amount of RNA–seq studies, our automated TSS annotation will not only facilitate transcriptome annotation for a wider range of pro- and eukaryotes but can also be adapted for the analysis among different growth or stress conditions. Our comparative dRNA–seq analysis revealed conservation of most TSS, but also single-nucleotide-polymorphisms (SNP) in promoter regions, which lead to strain-specific transcriptional output. Furthermore, we identified strain-specific sRNA repertoires that could contribute to differential gene regulation among strains. In addition, we identified a novel minimal CRISPR-system in Campylobacter of the type-II CRISPR subtype, which relies on the host factor RNase III and a trans-encoded sRNA for maturation of crRNAs. This minimal system of Campylobacter, which seems active in only some strains, employs a unique maturation pathway, since the crRNAs are transcribed from individual promoters in the upstream repeats and thereby minimize the requirements for the maturation machinery. Overall, our study provides new insights into strain-specific transcriptome organization and sRNAs, and reveals genes that could modulate phenotypic variation among strains despite high conservation at the DNA level.

The small RNAs associated with the protein Hfq constitute one of the largest classes of post-transcriptional regulators known to date. Most previously investigated members of this class are encoded by conserved free-standing genes. Here, deep sequencing of Hfq-bound transcripts from multiple stages of growth of Salmonella typhimurium revealed a plethora of new small RNA species from within mRNA loci, including DapZ, which overlaps with the 3 0 region of the biosynthetic gene, dapB. Synthesis of the DapZ small RNA is independent of DapB protein synthesis, and is controlled by HilD, the master regulator of Salmonella invasion genes. DapZ carries a short G/U-rich domain similar to that of the globally acting GcvB small RNA, and uses GcvB-like seed pairing to repress translation of the major ABC transporters, DppA and OppA. This exemplifies double functional output from an mRNA locus by the production of both a protein and an Hfq-dependent trans-acting RNA. Our atlas of Hfq targets suggests that the 3 0 regions of mRNA genes constitute a rich reservoir that provides the Hfq network with new regulatory small RNAs.

cWhile the model organism Escherichia coli has been the subject of intense study for decades, the full complement of its RNAs is only now being examined. Here we describe a survey of the E. coli transcriptome carried out using a differential RNA sequencing (dRNA-seq) approach, which can distinguish between primary and processed transcripts, and an automated prediction algorithm for transcriptional start sites (TSS). With the criterion of expression under at least one of three growth conditions examined, we predicted 14,868 TSS candidates, including 5,574 internal to annotated genes (iTSS) and 5,495 TSS corresponding to potential antisense RNAs (asRNAs). We examined expression of 14 candidate asRNAs by Northern analysis using RNA from wild-type E. coli and from strains defective for RNases III and E, two RNases reported to be involved in asRNA processing. Interestingly, nine asRNAs detected as distinct bands by Northern analysis were differentially affected by the rnc and rne mutations. We also compared our asRNA candidates with previously published asRNA annotations from RNA-seq data and discuss the challenges associated with these cross-comparisons. Our global transcriptional start site map represents a valuable resource for identification of transcription start sites, promoters, and novel transcripts in E. coli and is easily accessible, together with the cDNA coverage plots, in an online genome browser.A fter many years of study, we are only now beginning to understand and appreciate the complexity of bacterial transcriptomes. With the recent advances in deep-sequencing technology, transcriptome sequencing (RNA-seq) now allows for the detection of transcripts that are present at low levels or were previously missed by other methods of detection, the generation of global transcript maps, and improved genome annotation (reviewed in references 1 and 2). While these studies provide vast amounts of information about bacterial transcriptomes and regulatory elements, they also raise challenges regarding comparisons between studies and functions of the newly identified transcripts.One group of underappreciated transcripts being uncovered by these genome-wide analyses are RNAs that map opposite annotated coding regions, termed antisense RNAs (asRNAs). The abundance of pervasive antisense transcription start sites (asTSS) was first highlighted in an RNA-seq survey of the human pathogen Helicobacter pylori, where asTSS were identified opposite ϳ46% of the genes (3). Subsequent RNA-seq studies in cyanobacteria (4) and Gram-negative (5, 6) and Gram-positive (7-9) bacteria identified asRNAs expressed opposite 2 to 30% of annotated genes. This wide range in numbers of asRNAs reported may reflect differences in bacterial lifestyle or differences in the experimental setup or analyses of the RNA-seq data sets.Even for the transcriptome analyses of the well-studied model organism Escherichia coli (10-22), the numbers of asRNAs reported range from hundreds to thousands. This significant variation is due, in part, to differences i...