Structural and biochemical determinants of ligand binding by the c-di-GMP riboswitch .

ABSTRACT: The bacterial second messenger c-di-GMP is used in many species to control essential processes that allow the organism to adapt to its environment. The c-di-GMP riboswitch (GEMM) is an important downstream target in this signaling pathway and alters gene expression in response to changing concentrations of c-di-GMP. The riboswitch selectively recognizes its second messenger ligand primarily through contacts with two critical nucleotides. However, these two nucleotides are not the most highly conserved residues within the riboswitch sequence. Instead, nucleotides that stack with c-di-GMP and that form tertiary RNA contacts are the most invariant. Biochemical and structural evidence reveals that the most common natural variants are able to make alternative pairing interactions with both guan

SUBMITTER: Smith KD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3146058 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature