Identification of a non-coding RNA and its putative involvement in the regulation of tetanus toxin synthesis in Clostridium tetani.

ABSTRACT: Clostridium tetani produces the tetanus toxin (TeNT), one of the most powerful bacterial toxins known to humankind and responsible for tetanus. The regulation of toxin expression is complex and involves the alternative sigma factor TetR as well as other regulators. Here, a transcriptional analysis of the TeNT-encoding large plasmid of C. tetani identified a putative non-coding small RNA (sRNA), located in close vicinity of the 3' untranslated region of the tent gene. A northern blot experiment could identify a respective sRNA with a size of approx. 140 nucleotides. Sequence analysis showed that the sRNA contains a 14-nucleotide region that is complementary to a 5' located region of tent. In order to investigate the function of the sRNA, we applied a RNA interference approach targeting the

SUBMITTER: Bruggemann H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7892561 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature