Role of RNA Decay in Bacterial Gene Regulation
A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Microbiology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 May 2024 | Viewed by 613
Special Issue Editors
Interests: RNA decay
Interests: bacterial stress responses; post-transcriptional control; small regulatory RNAs; RNA processing and decay; Escherichia coli; ecology of Vibrio species
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The marked ability of microorganisms to rapidly adapt to changing environments is largely rooted in their capacity to promptly reprogram gene expression by synthesizing new coding mRNAs, along with the concomitant elimination of redundant transcripts. The rapid and selective elimination of redundant bacterial transcripts is conducted by diverse mRNA decay machineries, the main components of which have been well characterized for a few model organisms including Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis. Various studies of mRNA decay mechanisms have shown that the 5′ phosphorylation status, nucleotide composition, and structure of individual mRNAs can greatly impact mRNA turnover, and they have revealed a number of cis-acting regulatory elements located within the 5′- and 3′ end regions. Some important cis-acting elements include 5′ stabilizers, riboswitches, repetitive extragenic palindromic sequences, and 3′ poly(A) tails, which regulate the accessibility of individual transcripts (or their segments) to different ribonucleases and regulatory factors. In addition to cis-acting elements, a number of trans-acting factors (e.g., small regulatory RNAs (sRNAs) and ribosomes) are likewise known for their essential roles in controlling RNA turnover under numerous stress conditions.
The major aim of this Special Issue is to draw attention to recent progress in the field, and, more specifically, to update the reader about (i) new RNA degradation mechanisms; (ii) the role of cis- and trans-acting mRNA stability determinants; and (iii) the multifaceted characteristics of RNA decay machineries, such as their diverse composition, biological functions, mechanisms of action, and phylogenetic conservation. Accordingly, we wish to invite prospective authors to submit original research and review articles focused on fundamental and applied aspects of RNA turnover in bacteria.
Potential topics include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Advanced experimental approaches for monitoring the abundance and fate of RNA molecules.
- Regulation of mRNA stability by cis-acting elements (RNA stabilizers, riboswitches, and polyadenylation).
- Control of mRNA stability by small regulatory RNAs.
- Interdependence of translation and mRNA decay.
- Ribonucleases involved in RNA turnover and their ancillary factors.
Dr. Sue Lin-Chao
Prof. Dr. Vladimir Kaberdin
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- RNA stabilizers
- RNA decay
- RNA turnover
- small regulatory RNAs
- post-transcriptional control
