Abstract
Bacteria have developed numerous strategies in order to sense and respond to environmental challenges. Apart from well-known, protein-based mechanisms, RNAdependent post-transcriptional gene regulation has recently been recognized as an important layer of control. RNA thermometers are located in the 5’-untranslated region of temperature-controlled mRNAs, typically encoding heat shock or virulence genes. They prevent translation at low temperatures by trapping the Shine- Dalgarno (SD) sequence in a complex structure that prevents ribosome access. Partial melting of the structure by a temperature increase to 37 °C (virulence genes) or higher (heat shock genes) liberates the SD sequence thus permitting access of the 30S ribosome and translation initiation. Since melting and base pairing are reversible processes, translation is shut off upon return to lower temperatures.
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