Host factor I, Hfq, binds to Escherichia coli ompA mRNA in a growth rate-dependent fashion and regulates its stability.

ABSTRACT: The stability of the ompA mRNA depends on the bacterial growth rate. The 5' untranslated region is the stability determinant of this transcript and the target of the endoribonuclease, RNase E, the key player of mRNA degradation. An RNA-binding protein with affinity for the 5' untranslated region ompA was purified and identified as Hfq, a host factor initially recognized for its function in phage Qbeta replication. The ompA RNA-binding activity parallels the amount of Hfq, which is elevated in bacteria cultured at slow growth rate, a condition leading to facilitated degradation of the ompA mRNA. In hfq mutant cells with a deficient Hfq gene product, the RNA-binding activity is missing, and analysis of the ompA mRNA showed that the growth-rate dependence of degradation is lost. Furthermore,

SUBMITTER: Vytvytska O 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC24336 | biostudies-literature | 1998 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature