Small non-coding RNAs (sRNAs) are an emerging class of regulators of bacterial gene expression. Most of the regulatory Escherichia coli sRNAs known to date modulate translation of trans-encoded target mRNAs. We studied the specificity of sRNA target interactions using gene fusions to green fluorescent protein (GFP) as a novel reporter of translational control by bacterial sRNAs in vivo. Target sequences were selected from both monocistronic and polycistronic mRNAs. Upon expression of the cognate sRNA (DsrA, GcvB, MicA, MicC, MicF, RprA, RyhB, SgrS and Spot42), we observed highly specific translation repression/activation of target fusions under various growth conditions. Target regulation was also tested in mutants that lacked Hfq or RNase III, or which expressed a truncated RNase E (rne701). We found that translational regulation by these sRNAs was largely independent of full-length RNase E, e.g. despite the fact that ompA fusion mRNA decay could no longer be promoted by MicA. This is the first study in which multiple well-defined E.coli sRNA target pairs have been studied in a uniform manner in vivo. We expect our GFP fusion approach to be applicable to sRNA targets of other bacteria, and also demonstrate that Vibrio RyhB sRNA represses a Vibrio sodB fusion when co-expressed in E.coli.

SummaryMicF is a textbook example of a small regulatory RNA (sRNA) that acts on a trans-encoded target mRNA through imperfect base pairing. Discovery of MicF as a post-transcriptional repressor of the major Escherichia coli porin OmpF established the paradigm for a meanwhile common mechanism of translational inhibition, through antisense sequestration of a ribosome binding site. However, whether MicF regulates additional genes has remained unknown for almost three decades. Here, we have harnessed the new superfolder variant of GFP for reporter-gene fusions to validate newly predicted targets of MicF in Salmonella. We show that the conserved 5Ј end of MicF acts by seed pairing to repress the mRNAs of global transcriptional regulator Lrp, and periplasmic protein YahO, while a second targeting region is also required to regulate the mRNA of the lipid A-modifying enzyme LpxR. Interestingly, MicF targets lpxR at both the ribosome binding site and deep within the coding sequence. MicF binding in the coding sequence of lpxR decreases mRNA stability through exacerbating the use of a native RNase E site proximal to the short MicF-lpxR duplex. Altogether, this study assigns the classic MicF sRNA to the growing class of Hfqassociated regulators that use diverse mechanisms to impact multiple loci.

Small noncoding RNAs (sRNA) can function as posttranscriptional activators of gene expression to regulate stress responses and metabolism. We here describe the mechanisms by which two sRNAs, GlmY and GlmZ, activate the Escherichia coli glmS mRNA, coding for an essential enzyme in amino-sugar metabolism. The two sRNAs, although being highly similar in sequence and structure, act in a hierarchical manner. GlmZ, together with the RNA chaperone, Hfq, directly activates glmS mRNA translation by an anti-antisense mechanism. In contrast, GlmY acts upstream of GlmZ and positively regulates glmS by antagonizing GlmZ RNA inactivation. We also report the first example, to our knowledge, of mRNA expression being controlled by the poly(A) status of a chromosomally encoded sRNA. We show that in wild-type cells, GlmY RNA is unstable due to 3′ end polyadenylation; whereas in an E. coli pcnB mutant defective in RNA polyadenylation, GlmY is stabilized and accumulates, which in turn stabilizes GlmZ and causes GlmS overproduction. Our study reveals hierarchical action of two well-conserved sRNAs in a complex regulatory cascade that controls the glmS mRNA. Similar cascades of noncoding RNA regulators may operate in other organisms.

In an effort to target the in vivo context of tumor-specific moieties, a large library of nuclease-resistant RNA oligonucleotides was screened in tumor-bearing mice to identify candidate molecules with the ability to localize to hepatic colon cancer metastases. One of the selected molecules is an RNA aptamer that binds to protein p68, an RNA helicase that has been shown to be upregulated in colorectal cancer.