Staphylococcus aureus RNAIII binds to two distant regions of coa mRNA to arrest translation and promote mRNA degradation.

ABSTRACT: Staphylococcus aureus RNAIII is the intracellular effector of the quorum sensing system that temporally controls a large number of virulence factors including exoproteins and cell-wall-associated proteins. Staphylocoagulase is one major virulence factor, which promotes clotting of human plasma. Like the major cell surface protein A, the expression of staphylocoagulase is strongly repressed by the quorum sensing system at the post-exponential growth phase. Here we used a combination of approaches in vivo and in vitro to analyze the mechanism used by RNAIII to regulate the expression of staphylocoagulase. Our data show that RNAIII represses the synthesis of the protein through a direct binding with the mRNA. Structure mapping shows that two distant regions of RNAIII interact with coa mRNA an

SUBMITTER: Chevalier C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2837412 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature