The challenge of regulation in a minimal photoautotroph: non-coding RNAs in Prochlorococcus.

ABSTRACT: Prochlorococcus, an extremely small cyanobacterium that is very abundant in the world's oceans, has a very streamlined genome. On average, these cells have about 2,000 genes and very few regulatory proteins. The limited capability of regulation is thought to be a result of selection imposed by a relatively stable environment in combination with a very small genome. Furthermore, only ten non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), which play crucial regulatory roles in all forms of life, have been described in Prochlorococcus. Most strains also lack the RNA chaperone Hfq, raising the question of how important this mode of regulation is for these cells. To explore this question, we examined the transcription of intergenic regions of Prochlorococcus MED4 cells subjected to a number of different stress conditio

SUBMITTER: Steglich C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2518516 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature