This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Supplemental material Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Silvaggi, J. M. Articles by Losick, R. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Silvaggi, J. M. Articles by Losick, R.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Bacteriology, October 2005, p. 6641-6650, Vol. 187, No. 19
0021-9193/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.187.19.6641-6650.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Small Untranslated RNA Antitoxin in Bacillus subtilis

Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, The Biological Laboratories, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138,¹ DSM Nutritional Products, Ltd., Biotechnology R&D, P.O. Box 3255, Building 203/20A, CH-4002 Basel, Switzerland²

Received 27 May 2005/ Accepted 7 July 2005

Toxin-antitoxin (TA) modules are pairs of genes in which one member encodes a toxin that is neutralized or whose synthesis is prevented by the action of the product of the second gene, an antitoxin, which is either protein or RNA. We now report the identification of a TA module in the chromosome of Bacillus subtilis in which the antitoxin is an antisense RNA. The antitoxin, which is called RatA (for RNA antitoxin A), is a small (222 nucleotides), untranslated RNA that blocks the accumulation of the mRNA for a toxic peptide TxpA (for toxic peptide A; formerly YqdB). The txpA and ratA genes are in convergent orientation and overlap by ca. 75 nucleotides, such that the 3' region of ratA is complementary to the 3' region of txpA. Deletion of ratA led to increased levels of txpA mRNA and lysis of the cells. Overexpression of txpA also caused cell lysis and death, a phenotype that was prevented by simultaneous overexpression of ratA. We propose that the ratA transcript is an antisense RNA that anneals to the 3' end of the txpA mRNA, thereby triggering its degradation.

Supplemental material for this article may be found at http://jb.asm.org/.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Gaballa, A., Antelmann, H., Aguilar, C., Khakh, S. K., Song, K.-B., Smaldone, G. T., Helmann, J. D. (2008). The Bacillus subtilis iron-sparing response is mediated by a Fur-regulated small RNA and three small, basic proteins. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 105: 11927-11932 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Rieu, A., Weidmann, S., Garmyn, D., Piveteau, P., Guzzo, J. (2007). agr System of Listeria monocytogenes EGD-e: Role in Adherence and Differential Expression Pattern. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 73: 6125-6133 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Nakamura, T., Naito, K., Yokota, N., Sugita, C., Sugita, M. (2007). A Cyanobacterial Non-coding RNA, Yfr1, is Required for Growth Under Multiple Stress Conditions. Plant Cell Physiol 48: 1309-1318 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Heidrich, N., Moll, I., Brantl, S. (2007). In vitro analysis of the interaction between the small RNA SR1 and its primary target ahrC mRNA. Nucleic Acids Res 35: 4331-4346 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Silvaggi, J. M., Perkins, J. B., Losick, R. (2006). Genes for Small, Noncoding RNAs under Sporulation Control in Bacillus subtilis. J. Bacteriol. 188: 532-541 [Abstract] [Full Text]