Bacterial Cold Shock Proteins as a Factor of Adaptation to Stresses

Abstract

Bacteria have evolved a number of mechanisms to cope with stresses and adapt to changing environmental conditions. A family of bacterial proteins containing a functional cold shock domain are highly conserved nucleic acid-binding proteins that modulate transcription and post-transcriptional events in bacteria. For many bacteria, these proteins have been shown to regulate the expression of various genes involved in virulence and resistance of bacteria to stresses. The review discusses the new data on the mechanisms of action and the roles of cold shock proteins in the regulation of expression in intracellular bacterial pathogens.