Exploring the modular nature of riboswitches and RNA thermometers.

ABSTRACT: Natural regulatory RNAs like riboswitches and RNA thermometers (RNAT) have considerable potential in synthetic biology. They are located in the 5' untranslated region (UTR) of bacterial mRNAs and sense small molecules or changes in temperature, respectively. While riboswitches act on the level of transcription, translation or mRNA stability, all currently known RNATs regulate translation initiation. In this study, we explored the modularity of riboswitches and RNATs and obtained regulatory devices with novel functionalities. In a first approach, we established three riboswitch-RNAT systems conferring dual regulation of transcription and translation depending on the two triggers ligand binding and temperature sensing. These consecutive fusions control gene expression in vivo and can even or

SUBMITTER: Roßmanith J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4914106 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature