Abstract
Bacterial messenger RNAs (mRNAs) are composed of 5′ and 3′ untranslated regions (UTRs) that flank the coding sequences (CDSs). In eukaryotes, 3′UTRs play key roles in post-transcriptional regulatory mechanisms. Shortening or deregulation of these regions is associated with diseases such as cancer and metabolic disorders. Comparatively, little is known about the functions of 3′UTRs in bacteria. Over the past few years, 3′UTRs have emerged as important players in the regulation of relevant bacterial processes such as virulence, iron metabolism, and biofilm formation. This MiniReview is an update for the different 3′UTR-mediated mechanisms that regulate gene expression in bacteria. Some of these include 3′UTRs that interact with the 5′UTR of the same transcript to modulate translation, 3′UTRs that are targeted by specific ribonucleases, RNA-binding proteins and small RNAs (sRNAs), and 3′UTRs that act as reservoirs of trans-acting sRNAs, among others. In addition, recent findings regarding a differential evolution of bacterial 3′UTRs and its impact in the species-specific expression of orthologous genes are also discussed.
Highlights
Post-transcriptional regulation in bacteria has emerged as an essential layer to tightly control gene expression
Genomes encode a large variety of RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) and regulatory RNAs that target messenger RNAs (mRNAs) and modify their expression in diverse ways
Some of these RBPs assist in the interaction between regulatory RNAs and their targeting mRNAs or regulate the formation of transcriptional terminator/anti-terminator structures (Van Assche et al, 2015; Holmqvist and Vogel, 2018; Woodson et al, 2018)
Summary
Post-transcriptional regulation in bacteria has emerged as an essential layer to tightly control gene expression. 3′UTR-Mediated Regulation in Bacteria regions (UTRs) of the mRNAs may contain regulatory elements, which modulate the expression of their own mRNAs in different ways.
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