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Volume 160, Issue 3

α, an antisense RNA gene to in the extreme acidophile Free

Abstract

A large non-coding RNA, termed α-Fur, of ~1000 nt has been detected in the extreme acidophile encoded on the antisense strand to the iron-responsive master regulator (ferric uptake regulator) gene. A promoter for α was predicted bioinformatically and validated using gene fusion experiments. The promoter is situated within the coding region and in the same sense as , potentially encoding a glutamate 5-kinase. The 3′ termination site of the α transcript was determined by 3′ rapid amplification of cDNA ends to lie 7 nt downstream of the start of transcription of . Thus, α is antisense to the complete coding region of , including its predicted ribosome-binding site. The genetic context of α is conserved in several members of the genus but not in all acidophiles, indicating that it is monophyletic but not niche specific. It is hypothesized that α-Fur regulates the cellular level of Fur. This is the fourth example of an antisense RNA to , although it is the first in an extreme acidophile, and underscores the growing importance of -encoded non-coding RNAs as potential regulators involved in the microbial iron-responsive stimulon.

  • Received:
  • Accepted:
  • Published Online:
Funding
This study was supported by the:
  • Fondecyt (Award 1130683 and 1090451)
  • Mecesup (Award UAB 602)
  • Conicyt
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2014-03-01
2024-04-19
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α-fur, an antisense RNA gene to fur in the extreme acidophile Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans
Microbiology 160, 514 (2014); https://doi.org/10.1099/mic.0.073171-0
/content/journal/micro/10.1099/mic.0.073171-0
/content/journal/micro/10.1099/mic.0.073171-0
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