Abstract
The conserved bacterial RNA chaperone Hfq has been shown to play an important role in post-transcriptional regulation. Here, we demonstrate that Hfq synthesis is autoregulated at the translational level. We have mapped two Hfq binding sites in the 5'-untranslated region of hfq mRNA and show that Hfq binding inhibits formation of the translation initiation complex. In vitro translation and in vivo studies further revealed that Hfq binding to both sites is required for efficient translational repression of hfq mRNA.
Publication types
-
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
MeSH terms
-
5' Untranslated Regions / metabolism
-
Base Sequence
-
Binding Sites
-
Down-Regulation
-
Escherichia coli / genetics*
-
Escherichia coli Proteins / genetics*
-
Escherichia coli Proteins / metabolism
-
Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial*
-
Host Factor 1 Protein / genetics*
-
Host Factor 1 Protein / metabolism
-
Molecular Chaperones / genetics*
-
Molecular Chaperones / metabolism
-
Molecular Sequence Data
-
Nucleic Acid Conformation
-
Peptide Chain Initiation, Translational / genetics*
-
RNA, Messenger / metabolism
-
Repressor Proteins / genetics
-
Repressor Proteins / metabolism
Substances
-
5' Untranslated Regions
-
Escherichia coli Proteins
-
Hfq protein, E coli
-
Host Factor 1 Protein
-
Molecular Chaperones
-
RNA, Messenger
-
Repressor Proteins