An Antisense RNA Fine-Tunes Gene Expression of the Type II MazEF Toxin-Antitoxin System.

ABSTRACT: Despite their ubiquitous nature, few antisense RNAs have been functionally characterized, and this class of RNAs is considered by some to be transcriptional noise. Here, we report that an antisense RNA (asRNA), aMEF (antisense mazEF), functions as a dual regulator for the type II toxin-antitoxin (TA) system mazEF. Unlike type I TA systems and many other regulatory asRNAs, aMEF stimulates the synthesis and translation of mazEF rather than inhibition and degradation. Our data indicate that a double-stranded RNA intermediate and RNase III are not necessary for aMEF-dependent regulation of mazEF expression. The lack of conservation of asRNA promoters has been used to support the hypothesis that asRNAs are spurious transcriptional noise and nonfunctional. We demonstr

SUBMITTER: Van Gundy T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8749433 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature