Structural analysis of the Anti-Q-Qs interaction: RNA-mediated regulation of E. faecalis plasmid pCF10 conjugation.

ABSTRACT: Conjugation of the E. faecalis plasmid pCF10 is triggered in response to peptide sex pheromone cCF10 produced by potential recipients. Regulation of this response is complex and multi-layered and includes a small regulatory RNA, Anti-Q that participates in a termination/antitermination decision controlling transcription of the conjugation structural genes. In this study, the secondary structure of the Anti-Q transcript and its sites of interaction with its target, Qs, were determined. The primary site of interaction occurred at a centrally-located loop whose sequence showed high variability in analogous molecules on other pheromone-responsive plasmids. This loop, designated the specificity loop, was demonstrated to be important but not sufficient for distinguishing between Qs molecules fro

SUBMITTER: Shokeen S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2892192 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature