Identification of differentially expressed small non-coding RNAs in the legume endosymbiont Sinorhizobium meliloti by comparative genomics.

ABSTRACT: Bacterial small non-coding RNAs (sRNAs) are being recognized as novel widespread regulators of gene expression in response to environmental signals. Here, we present the first search for sRNA-encoding genes in the nitrogen-fixing endosymbiont Sinorhizobium meliloti, performed by a genome-wide computational analysis of its intergenic regions. Comparative sequence data from eight related alpha-proteobacteria were obtained, and the interspecies pairwise alignments were scored with the programs eQRNA and RNAz as complementary predictive tools to identify conserved and stable secondary structures corresponding to putative non-coding RNAs. Northern experiments confirmed that eight of the predicted loci, selected among the original 32 candidates as most probable sRNA genes, expressed small transc

SUBMITTER: del Val C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2780559 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature