In molecular biology, Vibrio cholerae ToxT activated RNAs are
small RNAs which are produced by the
bacterium
Bacteria (; singular: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one biological cell. They constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria were among ...
''
Vibrio cholerae
''Vibrio cholerae'' is a species of Gram-negative, facultative anaerobe and comma-shaped bacteria. The bacteria naturally live in brackish or saltwater where they attach themselves easily to the chitin-containing shells of crabs, shrimps, and oth ...
''. They are regulated by the
transcriptional
Transcription is the process of copying a segment of DNA into RNA. The segments of DNA transcribed into RNA molecules that can encode proteins are said to produce messenger RNA (mRNA). Other segments of DNA are copied into RNA molecules calle ...
activator ToxT and may play a role in ''V. cholerae''
virulence
Virulence is a pathogen's or microorganism's ability to cause damage to a host.
In most, especially in animal systems, virulence refers to the degree of damage caused by a microbe to its host. The pathogenicity of an organism—its ability to ca ...
. Two ToxT activated RNAs have been described: TarA (ToxT activated RNA A) and TarB (ToxT activated RNA B).
TarA
The TarA small RNA regulates PtsG, a
glucose
Glucose is a simple sugar with the molecular formula . Glucose is overall the most abundant monosaccharide, a subcategory of carbohydrates. Glucose is mainly made by plants and most algae during photosynthesis from water and carbon dioxide, using ...
transporter involved in the regulation of glucose uptake. Regulation of PtsG by TarA may be dependent upon the
Hfq protein
The Hfq protein (also known as HF-I protein) encoded by the ''hfq'' gene was discovered in 1968 as an ''Escherichia coli'' host factor that was essential for replication of the bacteriophage Qβ. It is now clear that Hfq is an abundant bacterial RN ...
, an
RNA
Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a polymeric molecule essential in various biological roles in coding, decoding, regulation and expression of genes. RNA and deoxyribonucleic acid ( DNA) are nucleic acids. Along with lipids, proteins, and carbohydra ...
chaperone.
TarB
TarB inhibits the
expression
Expression may refer to:
Linguistics
* Expression (linguistics), a word, phrase, or sentence
* Fixed expression, a form of words with a specific meaning
* Idiom, a type of fixed expression
* Metaphorical expression, a particular word, phrase, o ...
of Toxin coregulated pilus biosynthesis protein F (TcpF). It does not act in conjunction with Hfq.
See also
*
Vibrio regulatory RNA of OmpA
VrrA (Vibrio regulatory RNA of OmpA) is a non-coding RNA that is conserved across all ''Vibrio'' species of bacteria and acts as a repressor for the synthesis of the outer membrane protein OmpA. This non-coding RNA was initially identified from T ...
*
Qrr RNA
Introduction
Qrr (Quorum regulatory RNA) is a small non-coding RNA that is thought to be involved in the regulation of quorum sensing in ''Vibrio'' species. The use of small RNAs for vital functions like metabolism, infection cycling, and stres ...
References
{{reflist
RNA
Non-coding RNA