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An Integrated Cell-Free Assay to Study Translation Regulation by Small Bacterial Noncoding RNAs

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Bacterial Regulatory RNA

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 1737))

Abstract

Posttranscriptional regulation of gene expression by small noncoding RNAs (sRNAs) is an important control mechanism that modulates bacterial metabolism, motility, and pathogenesis. Using the bacterial carbon storage regulator/regulator of secondary metabolism (Csr/Rsm) system, we here describe an E. coli-based cell-free translation assay that allows a quantitative analysis of translation regulation by ncRNAs and their corresponding translation repressor proteins. The assay quantifies the translation of chloramphenicol acetyltransferase in cell-free expression reactions that contain defined amounts of ncRNA and repressor protein. We demonstrate our protocol with a comparative translation activation analysis of the RsmX, RsmY, and RsmZ sRNAs from Pseudomonas protegens, which reveals a superior efficacy of RsmZ over RsmX and RsmY.

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Correspondence to Erich Michel or Frédéric H.-T. Allain .

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Michel, E., Duss, O., Allain, F.HT. (2018). An Integrated Cell-Free Assay to Study Translation Regulation by Small Bacterial Noncoding RNAs. In: Arluison, V., Valverde, C. (eds) Bacterial Regulatory RNA. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 1737. Humana Press, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-7634-8_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-7634-8_11

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  • Publisher Name: Humana Press, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-7633-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-7634-8

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