Regulation of the ThiM riboswitch is facilitated by the trapped structure formed during transcription of the wild-type sequence

FEBS Letters

article

Chengyi Du¹  Yujie Wang²  Sha Gong¹ 

[1] Hubei Key Laboratory of Economic Forest Germplasm Improvement and Resources Comprehensive Utilization, Hubei Collaborative Innovation Center for the Characteristic Resources Exploitation of Dabie Mountains, Huanggang Normal University;Department of Physics and Telecommunication Engineering, Zhoukou Normal University

关键词: co-transcriptional folding;    gene regulation;    TPP riboswitch;   

DOI  :  10.1002/1873-3468.14202

来源: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

【 摘 要 】

The ThiM riboswitch from Escherichia coli is a typical mRNA device that modulates downstream gene expression by sensing TPP. The helix-based RNA folding theory is used to investigate its detailed regulatory behaviors in cells. This RNA molecule is transcriptionally trapped in a state with the unstructured SD sequence in the absence of TPP, which induces downstream gene expression. As a key step to turn on gene expression, formation of this trapped state (the genetic ON state) highly depends on the co-transcriptional folding of its wild-type sequence. Instead of stabilities of the genetic ON and OFF states, the transcription rate, pause, and ligand levels are combined to affect the ThiM riboswitch-mediated gene regulation, which is consistent with a kinetic control model.

【 授权许可】

Unknown