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Competing endogenous RNAs: a target-centric view of small RNA regulation in bacteria

Nature Reviews Microbiology volume 14, pages 775–784 (2016)Cite this article

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Abstract

Many bacterial regulatory small RNAs (sRNAs) have several mRNA targets, which places them at the centre of regulatory networks that help bacteria to adapt to environmental changes. However, different mRNA targets of any given sRNA compete with each other for binding to the sRNA; thus, depending on relative abundances and sRNA affinity, competition for regulatory sRNAs can mediate cross-regulation between bacterial mRNAs. This 'target-centric' perspective of sRNA regulation is reminiscent of the competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) hypothesis, which posits that competition for a limited pool of microRNAs (miRNAs) in higher eukaryotes mediates cross-regulation of mRNAs. In this Opinion article, we discuss evidence that a similar network of RNA crosstalk operates in bacteria, and that this network also includes crosstalk between sRNAs and competition for RNA-binding proteins.

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Figure 1: Mechanisms of sRNA-mediated regulation in Gram-negative bacteria.
Figure 2: RNAs competing for a shared sRNA regulator.
Figure 3: RNAs competing for binding to a protein.
Figure 4: Interconnection network in which ceRNAs may link disparate pathways in Escherichia coli and Salmonella enterica.

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Acknowledgements

Research in the laboratories of L.B. and N.F-.B. is funded by the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and by the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (grants BLAN07-1_187785 and ANR-3-BSV3-0005).

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  1. Institute for Integrative Biology of the Cell (I2BC), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), The French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), University Paris-Saclay, 1 Avenue de la Terrasse, Gif-sur-Yvette, F-91198, France

    Lionello Bossi & Nara Figueroa-Bossi

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Bossi, L., Figueroa-Bossi, N. Competing endogenous RNAs: a target-centric view of small RNA regulation in bacteria. Nat Rev Microbiol 14, 775–784 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrmicro.2016.129

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