Insights into the regulatory landscape of the lysine riboswitch.

ABSTRACT: A prevalent means of regulating gene expression in bacteria is by riboswitches found within mRNA leader sequences. Like protein repressors, these RNA elements must bind an effector molecule with high specificity against a background of other cellular metabolites of similar chemical structure to elicit the appropriate regulatory response. Current crystal structures of the lysine riboswitch do not provide a complete understanding of selectivity as recognition is substantially mediated through main-chain atoms of the amino acid. Using a directed set of lysine analogs and other amino acids, we have determined the relative contributions of the polar functional groups to binding affinity and the regulatory response. Our results reveal that the lysine riboswitch has >1000-fold specificity for lys

SUBMITTER: Garst AD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3444622 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature