Anti-Q RNA (formerly Qa RNA) is a small ncRNA from the conjugal plasmid pCF10 of Enterococcus faecalis. It is coded in cis to its regulatory target, prgQ, but can also act in trans. Anti-Q is known to interact with nascent prgQ transcripts to allow formation of an intrinsic terminator, or attenuator, thus preventing transcription of downstream genes.[1][2] This mode of regulation is essentially the same as that of the countertranscript-driven attenuators that control copy number in pT181,[3] pAMbeta1[4] and pIP501[5] and related Staphylococcal plasmids.

Anti-Q RNA
Predicted secondary structure and sequence conservation of Anti-Q RNA
Identifiers
SymbolAnti-Q_RNA
Alt. SymbolsQaRNA
RfamRF00388
Other data
RNA typeGene; antisense
Domain(s)Bacteria
SOSO:0000644
PDB structuresPDBe

Anti-Q is transcribed from the same segment of DNA as prgQ, except from the opposite strand, making it perfectly complementary to a portion of prgQ. Further experiments have experimentally confirmed the original consensus secondary structure and demonstrated that only certain regions of Anti-Q interact with prgQ.[6]

Anti-Q is derived from the 5’ end a longer transcript. The 3’ end of this transcript encodes PrgX, a repressor of prgQ transcription.

References

edit
  1. ^ Bae, T; Kozlowicz BK; Dunny GM (2004). "Characterization of cis-acting prgQ mutants: evidence for two distinct repression mechanisms by Qa RNA and PrgX protein in pheromone-inducible enterococcal plasmid pCF10". Mol Microbiol. 51 (1): 271–281. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2958.2003.03832.x. PMID 14651627. S2CID 26045706.
  2. ^ Johnson CM, Manias DA, Haemig HA, Shokeen S, Weaver KE, Henkin TM, Dunny GM (2010). "Direct evidence for control of the pheromone-inducible prgQ operon of Enterococcus faecalis plasmid pCF10 by a countertranscript-driven attenuation mechanism". J Bacteriol. 192 (6): 1634–1642. doi:10.1128/JB.01525-09. PMC 2832536. PMID 20097859.
  3. ^ Novick RP, Iordanescu S, Projan SJ, Kornblum J, Edelman I (1989). "pT181 plasmid replication is regulated by a countertranscript-driven transcriptional attenuator". Cell. 59 (2): 395–404. doi:10.1016/0092-8674(89)90300-0. PMID 2478296. S2CID 39261148.
  4. ^ Le Chatelier E, Ehrlich SD, Jannière L (1996). "Countertranscript-driven attenuation system of the pAM beta 1 repE gene". Mol Microbiol. 20 (5): 1099–1112. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2958.1996.tb02550.x. PMID 8809762. S2CID 27014481.
  5. ^ Brantl S, Birch-Hirschfeld E, Behnke D (1993). "RepR protein expression on plasmid pIP501 is controlled by an antisense RNA-mediated transcription attenuation mechanism". J Bacteriol. 175 (13): 4052–4061. doi:10.1128/jb.175.13.4052-4061.1993. PMC 204834. PMID 8320221.
  6. ^ Shokeen S, Johnson CM, Greenfield TJ, Manias DA, Dunny GM, E Weaver K (2010). "Structural analysis of the Anti-Q-Qs interaction: RNA-mediated regulation of E. faecalis plasmid pCF10 conjugation". Plasmid. 64 (1): 26–35. doi:10.1016/j.plasmid.2010.03.002. PMC 2892192. PMID 20332003.
edit