Affiliation:
1. Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Department of Microbiology-Immunology, Chicago, Illinois, USA
2. Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Center for Genetic Medicine, Chicago, Illinois, USA
Abstract
ABSTRACT
Small noncoding RNA (sRNA) molecules are integral components of the regulatory machinery for many bacterial species and are known to posttranscriptionally regulate metabolic and stress-response pathways, quorum sensing, virulence factors, and more. The Yop-Ysc type III secretion system (T3SS) is a critical virulence component for the pathogenic
Yersinia
species, and the regulation of this system is tightly controlled at each step from transcription to translocation of effectors into host cells. The contribution of sRNAs to the regulation of the T3SS in
Yersinia
has been largely unstudied, however. Previously, our lab identified a role for the sRNA chaperone protein Hfq in the regulation of components of the T3SS in the gastrointestinal pathogen
Yersinia pseudotuberculosis
. Here we present data demonstrating a similar requirement for Hfq in the closely related species
Yersinia pestis
. Through deep sequencing analysis of the
Y. pestis
sRNA-ome, we found 63 previously unidentified putative sRNAs in this species. We identified a
Yersinia
-specific sRNA, Ysr141, carried by the T3SS plasmid pCD1 that is required for the production of multiple T3SS proteins. In addition, we show that Ysr141 targets an untranslated region upstream of
yopJ
to posttranscriptionally activate the synthesis of the YopJ protein. Furthermore, Ysr141 may be an unstable and/or processed sRNA, which could contribute to its function in the regulation of the T3SS. The discovery of an sRNA that influences the synthesis of the T3SS adds an additional layer of regulation to this tightly controlled virulence determinant of
Y. pestis
.
Publisher
American Society for Microbiology
Subject
Molecular Biology,Microbiology
Cited by
42 articles.
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