ProQ-associated small RNAs control motility in <i>Vibrio cholerae</i>
Gene regulation at the post-transcriptional level is prevalent in all domains of life. In bacteria, ProQ-like proteins have emerged as important RNA chaperones facilitating RNA stability and RNA duplex formation. In the major human pathogen Vibrio cholerae, post-transcriptional gene regulation is key for virulence, biofilm formation, and antibiotic resistance, yet the role of ProQ has not been studied. Here, we show that ProQ interacts with hundreds of transcripts in V. cholerae, including the highly abundant FlaX small RNA (sRNA). Global analyses of RNA duplex formation using RIL-Seq (RNA interaction by ligation and sequencing) revealed a vast network of ProQ-assisted interactions and identified a role for FlaX in motility regulation. Specifically, FlaX base-pairs with multiple sites on the flaB flagellin mRNA, preventing 30S ribosome binding and translation initiation. V. cholerae cells lacking flaX display impaired motility gene expression, altered flagella composition and reduced swimming in liquid environments. Our results provide a global view on ProQ-associated RNA duplex formation and pinpoint the mechanistic and phenotypic consequences associated with ProQ-associated sRNAs in V. cholerae.
Authors
- Rabea Ghandour (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1238-3590)
- Malte Siemers (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8458-1938)
- Michaela Huber (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7478-5697)
- Phillip Popp (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7396-1791)
- Sahar Melamed (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1360-1297)
- Andreas Klingl (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8414-8317)
- Axel A. Brakhage (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8814-4193)
- Kai Papenfort (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5560-9804)
- Olaf Kniemeyer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9493-6402)
- Thomas Krüger (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8984-3853)
- Marc Erhardt (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6292-619X)
- Daniel Devlitsarov
Institutions
- Hebrew University of Jerusalem (IL)
- Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (DE)
- Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Microbiology (CZ)
- Leibniz-Institut für Naturstoff-Forschung und Infektionsbiologie e. V. - Hans-Knöll-Institut (HKI) (DE)
- Friedrich Schiller University Jena (DE)
- Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (DE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nucleic Acids Research
- Published
- 2024-12-27
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkae1283
- Citations
- 12
- Primary Topic
- Vibrio bacteria research studies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 7.41
Funders
- California Department of Fish and Game
- Vallee Foundation
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
- H2020 European Research Council