细菌小RNA的研究

小RNA(smallRNA,sRNA)在基因表达调控和生长发育等方面发挥着重要作用。细菌sRNA多通过与靶mRNA配对,转录后水平影响目的mRNA翻译或(和)稳定性,对基因的表达进行调节,以影响细胞的多种生理功能。本文从细菌sRNA与真核生物微RNA(microRNA,miRNA)的比较,sRNA的分类,sRNA分子伴侣Hfq及sRNA鉴别方法等方面综述了sRNA的研究进展,指出目前sRNA研究仍然存在的问题。原核生物中sRNA的大量发现和深入研究,有可能使人们对生物进化和生命的发展过程有更为深入的认识与了解。     

小RNA对胞内菌生长、毒力及铁水平的调节作用

细菌小RNA(small RNA,sRNA)是一类长度为50~500个碱基,具有调控转录、翻译和mRNA稳定性的非编码调节性RNA。随着越来越多的sRNA被鉴定,部分细菌的sRNA功能已逐步阐明,主要参与调控细菌的基因表达、增殖、毒力及对环境的应激反应等生物学过程。本文就胞内菌(如沙门菌、李斯特菌、嗜肺军团菌等)sRNA对其自身在宿主细胞内的生长、毒力和铁水平的调控作用进行综述。     

非编码小RNA对细菌毒力及耐药性的调控作用研究进展

近年来的研究发现,细菌非编码小RNA (small non-coding RNA, sRNA)对其不同生理进程起到了重要的调控作用。随着大量sRNA被发现并鉴定,细菌sRNA的功能被逐步阐明,其可在转录后水平广泛调控细菌的生理代谢、毒力及耐药性等。本文综述了sRNA对细菌毒力和耐药性调控作用的研究进展,对揭示细菌转录后水平毒力及耐药性调控机制具有一定意义。     

细菌中的小RNA

小RNA（sRNA）或非编码RNA（ncRNA）在原核生物和真核生物中广泛分布。迄今,在各种细菌中共发现超过150种sRNA,在大肠杆菌中发现了约80种sRNA。sRNA通过与靶mRNA配对而发生作用,导致mRNA翻译和稳定性的变化;sRNA的功能涉及从结构调节到催化作用,影响生物体内各种各样的加工过程,一个单独的sRNA就能调控大量的基因并对细胞生理产生深远影响。目前,对sRNA的研究主要采用生物信息学预测结合分子生物学实验的方法。     

细菌小RNA识别研究方法进展

细菌小RNA(sRNA)是一类长度在50～500 nt的调控RNA,主要通过与靶标mRNA以不完全配对方式结合来发挥调控作用,sRNA参与细菌基因的转录、翻译、mRNA稳定、成熟和加工等多个过程,因此,sRNA的发现及功能注释对了解细菌的致病机制至关重要。该文将对研究sRNA的各种计算机和实验方法进行综述,阐述各种方法的优缺点,并讨论今后的发展方向。     

病原菌非编码sRNA的功能及研究新方法

细菌中的非编码小RNA(small RNA,sRNA)作为一种靶向调控分子在细胞生理代谢过程中具有重要作用。sRNA作用于特定靶标,调控基因的表达。大肠杆菌大约有100种sRNA,其中1/3sRNA需要伴侣蛋白Hfq的介导。病原细菌中sRNA分子如何调控致病基因的表达,目前研究仍处于初级阶段。本文将从生物膜形成、细菌耐药性以及对宿主的影响等方面,结合新颖的sRNA的研究方法,综述sRNA在调控代谢网络及控制病原菌致病性方面的作用。     

细菌sRNA数据库

细菌sRNA是一类长度在50~500 nt的调控小RNA(small regulatory RNA),主要通过与靶标mRNA或靶标蛋白质结合发挥多种生物学功能。目前,随着生物信息学与高通量测序的应用,发现了越来越多的细菌sRNA,开发了多个相关数据库。为了sRNA工作者系统了解与应用这些数据,本文拟对包含细菌sRNA的综合数据库和细菌sRNA专业数据库作一概述,并对sRNA数据库的未来发展进行展望。     

萱草microRNAs生物信息学及与冷冻相关microRNAs的分析

microRNA是一类长度为16-29nt的非蛋白质编码的内源小分子RNA（sRNA）,在植物生长发育以及逆境胁迫响应等过程中发挥着重要作用。本文利用基于HiSeq原理的sRNA深度测序技术,结合生物信息学方法对萱草根系中已知miRNA的类型、丰度以及部分与冷冻胁迫相关的已知miRNA的功能进行了分析。结果表明,在10℃常温和2-5℃低温条件下萱草根系中分别有14843184和16072575条序列信息,代表14064385和15309725种sRNA片段,且sRNA均呈现正态分布特征;在非编码RNA中转运RNA（tRNA）、核糖体RNA（rRNA）所占比例较大。低温sRNA组中得到注释的sRNA有67411种,共计799994条sRNAff／段;常温NsRNA组中,得到注释的sRNA有66524种,共计1055466条sRNA片段。冷冻胁迫下,萱草通过提高miR393、miR397、miR396的表达量和降4NmiR319的表达量来增强其抗冻性。本研究为后续揭示萱草低温应答蛋白合成的调控机理,筛选抗冻关键调控基因提供了丰富的数据。     

细菌非编码小RNA功能及作用机制研究进展

生物体中除了编码蛋白质的mRNA外,还存在多种具有重要调控功能的非编码RNA。细菌中长度50~500 nt的非编码RNA通常定义为sRNA。sRNA在细菌的整个生命活动中发挥着极为广泛的作用,在感受环境压力、基因表达、细胞周期乃至个体发育等过程中均具有重要的调控作用。sRNA的功能学和调控机制的研究已成为当今细菌学研究的热点。本研究就细菌中的sRNA的特征,在细菌中的作用和作用机制进行文献综述。     

细菌中非编码小RNA的筛选及鉴定

细菌非编码小RNA(small non-coding RNA,sRNA)是一类长度在50-200个核苷酸,不编码蛋白质的RNA.它们通过碱基配对识别靶标mRNA,在转录后水平调节基因的表达,是细菌代谢、毒力和适应环境压力的重要调节因子.近年来,随着生物信息学和RNA组学技术应用于细菌sRNA的筛选,sRNA已被证实存在于大肠埃希杆菌(Escherichia coli),铜绿假单胞菌(Pseudomonas aeruginosa)、霍乱弧菌(Vibrio cholerae)等细菌中,是细菌基因调控中新的调节因子.本文对细菌中非编码小RNA的筛选和鉴定技术作一个简要论述.     

Characterization of the small RNA transcriptome in plant–microbe (Brassica/Erwinia) interactions by high-throughput sequencing

Non-coding, small RNAs (sRNAs) have been identified in a wide spectrum of organisms ranging from bacteria to humans; however, the role and mechanisms of these sRNA in plant immunity is largely unknown. To determine possible roles of sRNA in plant–pathogen interaction, we carried out a high-throughput sRNA sequencing of Brassica campestris using non-infected plants and plants infected with Erwinia carotovora. Consistent with our hypothesis that distinct classes of host sRNAs alerts their expression levels in response to infection, we found that: (1) host 28-nt sRNAs were strongly increased under pathogen infection; and (2) a group of host sRNAs homologous to the pathogen genome also accumulated at significantly higher level. Our data thus suggest several distinct classes of the host sRNAs may enhance their function by up-regulation of their expression/stability in response to bacterial pathogen challenges.     

Regulatory RNAs in Haloferax volcanii

In organisms of all three domains of life, a plethora of sRNAs (small regulatory RNAs) exists in addition to the well-known RNAs such as rRNAs, tRNAs and mRNAs. Although sRNAs have been well studied in eukaryotes and in bacteria, the sRNA population in archaea has just recently been identified and only in a few archaeal species. In the present paper, we summarize our current knowledge about sRNAs and their function in the halophilic archaeon Haloferax volcanii. Using two different experimental approaches, 111 intergenic and 38 antisense sRNAs were identified, as well as 42 tRFs (tRNA-derived fragments). Observation of differential expression under various conditions suggests that these sRNAs might be active as regulators in gene expression like their bacterial and eukaryotic counterparts. The severe phenotypes observed upon deletion and overexpression of sRNA genes revealed that sRNAs are involved in, and important for, a variety of biological functions in H. volcanii and possibly other archaea. Investigation of the Haloferax Lsm protein suggests that this protein is involved in the archaeal sRNA pathway.     

Dynamics of Salmonella small RNA expression in non-growing bacteria located inside eukaryotic cells

Small non-coding regulatory RNAs (sRNAs) have been studied in many bacterial pathogens during infection. However, few studies have focused on how intracellular pathogens modulate sRNA expression inside eukaryotic cells. Here, we monitored expression of all known sRNAs of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium (S. Typhimurium) in bacteria located inside fibroblasts, a host cell type in which this pathogen restrains growth. sRNA sequences known in S. Typhimurium and Escherichia coli were searched in the genome of S. Typhimurium virulent strain SL1344, the subject of this study. Expression of 84 distinct sRNAs was compared in extra- and intracellular bacteria. Non-proliferating intracellular bacteria upregulated six sRNAs, including IsrA, IsrG, IstR-2, RyhB-1, RyhB-2 and RseX while repressed the expression of the sRNAs DsrA, GlmZ, IsrH-1, IsrI, SraL, SroC, SsrS(6S) and RydC. Interestingly, IsrH-1 was previously reported as an sRNA induced by S. Typhimurium inside macrophages. Kinetic analyses unraveled changing expression patterns for some sRNAs along the infection. InvR and T44 expression dropped after an initial induction phase while IstR-2 was induced exclusively at late infection times (> 6 h). Studies focused on the Salmonella-specific sRNA RyhB-2 revealed that intracellular bacteria use this sRNA to regulate negatively YeaQ, a cis-encoded protein of unknown function. RyhB-2, together with RyhB-1, contributes to attenuate intracellular bacterial growth. To our knowledge, these data represent the first comprehensive study of S. Typhimurium sRNA expression in intracellular bacteria and provide the first insights into sRNAs that may direct pathogen adaptation to a non-proliferative state inside the host cell.     

Molecular call and response: the physiology of bacterial small RNAs

The vital role of bacterial small RNAs (sRNAs) in cellular regulation is now well-established. Although many diverse mechanisms by which sRNAs bring about changes in gene expression have been thoroughly described, comparatively less is known about their biological roles and effects on cell physiology. Nevertheless, for some sRNAs, insight has been gained into the intricate regulatory interplay that is required to sense external environmental and internal metabolic cues and turn them into physiological outcomes. Here, we review examples of regulation by selected sRNAs, emphasizing signals and regulators required for sRNA expression, sRNA regulatory targets, and the resulting consequences for the cell. We highlight sRNAs involved in regulation of the processes of iron homeostasis (RyhB, PrrF, and FsrA) and carbon metabolism (Spot 42, CyaR, and SgrS).     

Comparative genome‐wide analysis of small RNAs of major Gram‐positive pathogens: from identification to application

In the recent years, the number of drug- and multi-drug-resistant microbial strains has increased rapidly. Therefore, the need to identify innovative approaches for development of novel anti-infectives and new therapeutic targets is of high priority in global health care. The detection of small RNAs (sRNAs) in bacteria has attracted considerable attention as an emerging class of new gene expression regulators. Several experimental technologies to predict sRNA have been established for the Gram-negative model organism Escherichia coli. In many respects, sRNA screens in this model system have set a blueprint for the global and functional identification of sRNAs for Gram-positive microbes, but the functional role of sRNAs in colonization and pathogenicity for Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes, Enterococcus faecalis and Clostridium difficile is almost completely unknown. Here, we report the current knowledge about the sRNAs of these socioeconomically relevant Gram-positive pathogens, overview the state-of-the-art high-throughput sRNA screening methods and summarize bioinformatics approaches for genome-wide sRNA identification and target prediction. Finally, we discuss the use of modified peptide nucleic acids (PNAs) as a novel tool to inactivate potential sRNA and their applications in rapid and specific detection of pathogenic bacteria.