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PMID: 7556100 Published · ppublish English Journal Article Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Activation of alpha-toxin translation in Staphylococcus aureus by the trans-encoded antisense RNA, RNAIII.

The EMBO journal ·Vol. 14 ·No. 18 ·1995-09-15 ·Pages 4569-77

Morfeldt E, Taylor D, von Gabain A, Arvidson S

Abstract

The synthesis of virulence factors in Staphylococcus aureus is controlled by a regulatory RNA molecule, RNAIII, encoded by the agr locus. Transcription of genes coding for secreted toxins and enzymes is stimulated, while transcription of cell-surface protein genes is repressed by RNAIII. In the case of staphylococcal alpha-toxin, RNAIII also seems to stimulate translation by an independent mechanism. In this report we show that in a mutant lacking RNAIII the rate of alpha-toxin (hla) production relative to the cellular concentration of hla mRNA was reduced 10-fold as compared with the wild-type strain. A 75% complementarity between the 5' end of RNAIII and the 5' untranslated region of the hla transcript suggests a direct interaction between the RNAs. A complex of RNAIII and hla mRNA was demonstrated in extracts of total RNA from the wild-type strain, and also with in vitro synthesized RNAs. Ribonuclease T1 digestion experiments revealed that the ribosome binding site of the hla transcript is blocked by intramolecular base-pairing. Hybridization with RNAIII prevents this intramolecular base-pairing and makes the hla mRNA accessible for translation initiation. This is, to our knowledge, the first example of an 'antisense RNA' that stimulates translation of the target mRNA.

MeSH Terms
Bacterial Toxins/biosynthesis,genetics Base Sequence Blotting, Northern Electrophoresis, Agar Gel Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial Hemolysin Proteins/biosynthesis,genetics Molecular Sequence Data Mutation Nucleic Acid Conformation Protein Biosynthesis RNA, Antisense/genetics,metabolism RNA, Bacterial/genetics,metabolism RNA, Messenger/metabolism Sequence Analysis, DNA Staphylococcus aureus/genetics,growth & development
Chemicals
Bacterial Toxins Hemolysin Proteins RNA, Antisense RNA, Bacterial RNA, Messenger RNAIII, Staphylococcus aureus staphylococcal alpha-toxin
Authors & Affiliations
4 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Morfeldt E
Microbiology and Tumorbiology Center, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.
Taylor D
von Gabain A
Arvidson S
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Article Info
Journal
The EMBO journal
Abbr.
EMBO J
ISSN
0261-4189
Published
1995-09-15
Pages
4569-77
Language
English
Region
England
NLM ID
8208664
PMCID
PMC394549
Subset
IM
Databases
GENBANK
X01645
External Links
PubMed source PMC Full Text View journal details
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