Quaternary structure and biochemical properties of mycobacterial RNase E/G

Mycobacterial RNase E cleaves with a distinct sequence preference and controls the degradation rates of most Mycolicibacterium smegmatis mRNAs

The mechanisms and regulation of RNA degradation in mycobacteria have been subject to increased interest following the identification of interplay between RNA metabolism and drug resistance. Mycobacteria encode multiple ribonucleases predicted to participate in mRNA degradation and/or processing of stable RNAs. RNase E is hypothesized to play a major role in mRNA degradation because of its essentiality in mycobacteria and its role in mRNA degradation in gram-negative bacteria. Here, we defined the impact of RNase E on mRNA degradation rates transcriptome-wide in the nonpathogenic model Mycolicibacterium smegmatis. RNase E played a rate-limiting role in degradation of the transcripts encoded by at least 89% of protein-coding genes, with leadered transcripts often being more affected by RNase E repression than leaderless transcripts. There was an apparent global slowing of transcription in response to knockdown of RNase E, suggesting that M. smegmatis regulates transcription in responses to changes in mRNA degradation. This compensation was incomplete, as the abundance of most transcripts increased upon RNase E knockdown. We assessed the sequence preferences for cleavage by RNase E transcriptome-wide in M. smegmatis and Mycobacterium tuberculosis and found a consistent bias for cleavage in C-rich regions. Purified RNase E had a clear preference for cleavage immediately upstream of cytidines, distinct from the sequence preferences of RNase E in gram-negative bacteria. We furthermore report a high-resolution map of mRNA cleavage sites in M. tuberculosis, which occur primarily within the RNase E-preferred sequence context, confirming that RNase E has a broad impact on the M. tuberculosis transcriptome.

RNase E and HupB dynamics foster mycobacterial cell homeostasis and fitness

RNA turnover is a primary source of gene expression variation, in turn promoting cellular adaptation. Mycobacteria leverage reversible mRNA stabilization to endure hostile conditions. Although RNase E is essential for RNA turnover in several species, its role in mycobacterial single-cell physiology and functional phenotypic diversification remains unexplored. Here, by integrating live-single-cell and quantitative-mass-spectrometry approaches, we show that RNase E forms dynamic foci, which are associated with cellular homeostasis and fate, and we discover a versatile molecular interactome. We show a likely interaction between RNase E and the nucleoid-associated protein HupB, which is particularly pronounced during drug treatment and infection, where phenotypic diversity increases. Disruption of RNase E expression affects HupB levels, impairing Mycobacterium tuberculosis growth homeostasis during treatment, intracellular replication, and host spread. Our work lays the foundation for targeting the RNase E and its partner HupB, aiming to undermine M. tuberculosis cellular balance, diversification capacity, and persistence.

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Single mycobacterial cells exhibit phenotypic variation in RNase E expression

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RNase E is implicated in the maintenance of mycobacterial cell growth homeostasis

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RNase E and HupB show a functional interplay in single mycobacterial cells

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RNase E-HupB disruption impairs Mycobacterium tuberculosis fate under drug and in macrophages

Regulation of mRNA Stability During Bacterial Stress Responses

Bacteria have a remarkable ability to sense environmental changes, swiftly regulating their transcriptional and posttranscriptional machinery as a response. Under conditions that cause growth to slow or stop, bacteria typically stabilize their transcriptomes in what has been shown to be a conserved stress response. In recent years, diverse studies have elucidated many of the mechanisms underlying mRNA degradation, yet an understanding of the regulation of mRNA degradation under stress conditions remains elusive. In this review we discuss the diverse mechanisms that have been shown to affect mRNA stability in bacteria. While many of these mechanisms are transcript-specific, they provide insight into possible mechanisms of global mRNA stabilization. To that end, we have compiled information on how mRNA fate is affected by RNA secondary structures; interaction with ribosomes, RNA binding proteins, and small RNAs; RNA base modifications; the chemical nature of 5' ends; activity and concentration of RNases and other degradation proteins; mRNA and RNase localization; and the stringent response. We also provide an analysis of reported relationships between mRNA abundance and mRNA stability, and discuss the importance of stress-associated mRNA stabilization as a potential target for therapeutic development.

Cross-subunit catalysis and a new phenomenon of recessive resurrection in Escherichia coli RNase E

RNase E is a 472-kDa homo-tetrameric essential endoribonuclease involved in RNA processing and turnover in Escherichia coli. In its N-terminal half (NTH) is the catalytic active site, as also a substrate 5′-sensor pocket that renders enzyme activity maximal on 5′-monophosphorylated RNAs. The protein's non-catalytic C-terminal half (CTH) harbours RNA-binding motifs and serves as scaffold for a multiprotein degradosome complex, but is dispensable for viability. Here, we provide evidence that a full-length hetero-tetramer, composed of a mixture of wild-type and (recessive lethal) active-site mutant subunits, exhibits identical activity in vivo as the wild-type homo-tetramer itself (‘recessive resurrection’). When all of the cognate polypeptides lacked the CTH, the active-site mutant subunits were dominant negative. A pair of C-terminally truncated polypeptides, which were individually inactive because of additional mutations in their active site and 5′-sensor pocket respectively, exhibited catalytic function in combination, both in vivo and in vitro (i.e. intragenic or allelic complementation). Our results indicate that adjacent subunits within an oligomer are separately responsible for 5′-sensing and cleavage, and that RNA binding facilitates oligomerization. We propose also that the CTH mediates a rate-determining initial step for enzyme function, which is likely the binding and channelling of substrate for NTH’s endonucleolytic action.

Small RNA Mcr11 requires the transcription factor AbmR for stable expression and regulates genes involved in the central metabolism of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), the etiologic agent of tuberculosis, must adapt to host-associated environments during infection by modulating gene expression. Small regulatory RNAs (sRNAs) are key regulators of bacterial gene expression, but their roles in Mtb are not well understood. Here, we address the expression and function of the Mtb sRNA Mcr11, which is associated with slow bacterial growth and chronic infections in mice. We found that stable expression of Mcr11 requires multiple factors specific to TB-complex bacteria, including the AbmR transcription factor. Bioinformatic analyses used to predict regulatory targets of Mcr11 identified 7-11 nucleotide regions with potential for direct base-pairing with Mcr11 immediately upstream of Rv3282, fadA3, and lipB. mcr11-dependent regulation of these genes was demonstrated using qRT-PCR and found to be responsive to the presence of fatty acids. Mutation of the putative Mcr11 base-pairing site upstream of lipB in a promoter reporter strain resulted in significant de-repression of lipB expression, similar to that observed in mcr11-deleted Mtb. These studies establish Mcr11's roles in regulating growth and central metabolism in Mtb. Our finding that multiple TB-complex-specific factors are required for production of stable Mcr11 also emphasizes the need to better understand mechanisms of sRNA expression and stability in TB.

Proteomic and transcriptomic experiments reveal an essential role of RNA degradosome complexes in shaping the transcriptome of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

The phenotypic adjustments of Mycobacterium tuberculosis are commonly inferred from the analysis of transcript abundance. While mechanisms of transcriptional regulation have been extensively analysed in mycobacteria, little is known about mechanisms that shape the transcriptome by regulating RNA decay rates. The aim of the present study is to identify the core components of the RNA degradosome of M. tuberculosis and to analyse their function in RNA metabolism. Using an approach involving cross-linking to 4-thiouridine-labelled RNA, we mapped the mycobacterial RNA-bound proteome and identified degradosome-related enzymes polynucleotide phosphorylase (PNPase), ATP-dependent RNA helicase (RhlE), ribonuclease E (RNase E) and ribonuclease J (RNase J) as major components. We then carried out affinity purification of eGFP-tagged recombinant constructs to identify protein-protein interactions. This identified further interactions with cold-shock proteins and novel KH-domain proteins. Engineering and transcriptional profiling of strains with a reduced level of expression of core degradosome ribonucleases provided evidence of important pleiotropic roles of the enzymes in mycobacterial RNA metabolism highlighting their potential vulnerability as drug targets.

A structural and biochemical comparison of Ribonuclease E homologues from pathogenic bacteria highlights species-specific properties

Regulation of gene expression through processing and turnover of RNA is a key mechanism that allows bacteria to rapidly adapt to changing environmental conditions. Consequently, RNA degrading enzymes (ribonucleases; RNases) such as the endoribonuclease RNase E, frequently play critical roles in pathogenic bacterial virulence and are potential antibacterial targets. RNase E consists of a highly conserved catalytic domain and a variable non-catalytic domain that functions as the structural scaffold for the multienzyme degradosome complex. Despite conservation of the catalytic domain, a recent study identified differences in the response of RNase E homologues from different species to the same inhibitory compound(s). While RNase E from Escherichia coli has been well-characterised, far less is known about RNase E homologues from other bacterial species. In this study, we structurally and biochemically characterise the RNase E catalytic domains from four pathogenic bacteria: Yersinia pestis, Francisella tularensis, Burkholderia pseudomallei and Acinetobacter baumannii, with a view to exploiting RNase E as an antibacterial target. Bioinformatics, small-angle x-ray scattering and biochemical RNA cleavage assays reveal globally similar structural and catalytic properties. Surprisingly, subtle species-specific differences in both structure and substrate specificity were also identified that may be important for the development of effective antibacterial drugs targeting RNase E.

Defining the Transcriptional and Post-transcriptional Landscapes of Mycobacterium smegmatis in Aerobic Growth and Hypoxia

The ability of Mycobacterium tuberculosis to infect, proliferate, and survive during long periods in the human lungs largely depends on the rigorous control of gene expression. Transcriptome-wide analyses are key to understanding gene regulation on a global scale. Here, we combine 5′-end-directed libraries with RNAseq expression libraries to gain insight into the transcriptome organization and post-transcriptional mRNA cleavage landscape in mycobacteria during log phase growth and under hypoxia, a physiologically relevant stress condition. Using the model organism Mycobacterium smegmatis, we identified 6,090 transcription start sites (TSSs) with high confidence during log phase growth, of which 67% were categorized as primary TSSs for annotated genes, and the remaining were classified as internal, antisense, or orphan, according to their genomic context. Interestingly, over 25% of the RNA transcripts lack a leader sequence, and of the coding sequences that do have leaders, 53% lack a strong consensus Shine-Dalgarno site. This indicates that like M. tuberculosis, M. smegmatis can initiate translation through multiple mechanisms. Our approach also allowed us to identify over 3,000 RNA cleavage sites, which occur at a novel sequence motif. To our knowledge, this represents the first report of a transcriptome-wide RNA cleavage site map in mycobacteria. The cleavage sites show a positional bias toward mRNA regulatory regions, highlighting the importance of post-transcriptional regulation in gene expression. We show that in low oxygen, a condition associated with the host environment during infection, mycobacteria change their transcriptomic profiles and endonucleolytic RNA cleavage is markedly reduced, suggesting a mechanistic explanation for previous reports of increased mRNA half-lives in response to stress. In addition, a number of TSSs were triggered in hypoxia, 56 of which contain the binding motif for the sigma factor SigF in their promoter regions. This suggests that SigF makes direct contributions to transcriptomic remodeling in hypoxia-challenged mycobacteria. Taken together, our data provide a foundation for further study of both transcriptional and posttranscriptional regulation in mycobacteria.

Metabolic engineering of Corynebacterium glutamicum by synthetic small regulatory RNAs

Corynebacterium glutamicum is an important platform strain that is wildly used in industrial production of amino acids and various other biochemicals. However, due to good genomic stability, C. glutamicum is more difficult to engineer than genetically tractable hosts. Herein, a synthetic small regulatory RNA (sRNA)-based gene knockdown strategy was developed for C. glutamicum. The RNA chaperone Hfq from Escherichia coli and a rationally designed sRNA consisting of the E. coli MicC scaffold and a target binding site were proven to be indispensable for repressing green fluorescent protein expression in C. glutamicum. The synthetic sRNA system was applied to improve glutamate production through knockdown of pyk, ldhA, and odhA, resulting almost a threefold increase in glutamate titer and yield. Gene transcription and enzyme activity were down-regulated by up to 80%. The synthetic sRNA system developed holds promise to accelerate C. glutamicum metabolic engineering for producing valuable chemicals and fuels.

RNases and Helicases in Gram-Positive Bacteria

RNases are key enzymes involved in RNA maturation and degradation. Although they play a crucial role in all domains of life, bacteria, archaea, and eukaryotes have evolved with their own sets of RNases and proteins modulating their activities. In bacteria, these enzymes allow modulation of gene expression to adapt to rapidly changing environments. Today, >20 RNases have been identified in both Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis, the paradigms of the Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, respectively. However, only a handful of these enzymes are common to these two organisms and some of them are essential to only one. Moreover, although sets of RNases can be very similar in closely related bacteria such as the Firmicutes Staphylococcus aureus and B. subtilis, the relative importance of individual enzymes in posttranscriptional regulation in these organisms varies. In this review, we detail the role of the main RNases involved in RNA maturation and degradation in Gram-positive bacteria, with an emphasis on the roles of RNase J1, RNase III, and RNase Y. We also discuss how other proteins such as helicases can modulate the RNA-degradation activities of these enzymes.

Expression, maturation and turnover of DrrS, an unusually stable, DosR regulated small RNA in Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Mycobacterium tuberculosis depends on the ability to adjust to stresses encountered in a range of host environments, adjustments that require significant changes in gene expression. Small RNAs (sRNAs) play an important role as post-transcriptional regulators of prokaryotic gene expression, where they are associated with stress responses and, in the case of pathogens, adaptation to the host environment. In spite of this, the understanding of M. tuberculosis RNA biology remains limited. Here we have used a DosR-associated sRNA as an example to investigate multiple aspects of mycobacterial RNA biology that are likely to apply to other M. tuberculosis sRNAs and mRNAs. We have found that accumulation of this particular sRNA is slow but robust as cells enter stationary phase. Using reporter gene assays, we find that the sRNA core promoter is activated by DosR, and we have renamed the sRNA DrrS for DosR Regulated sRNA. Moreover, we show that DrrS is transcribed as a longer precursor, DrrS+, which is rapidly processed to the mature and highly stable DrrS. We characterise, for the first time in mycobacteria, an RNA structural determinant involved in this extraordinary stability and we show how the addition of a few nucleotides can lead to acute destabilisation. Finally, we show how this RNA element can enhance expression of a heterologous gene. Thus, the element, as well as its destabilising derivatives may be employed to post-transcriptionally regulate gene expression in mycobacteria in combination with different promoter variants. Moreover, our findings will facilitate further investigations into the severely understudied topic of mycobacterial RNA biology and into the role that regulatory RNA plays in M. tuberculosis pathogenesis.

Use of siRNA molecular beacons to detect and attenuate mycobacterial infection in macrophages

Tuberculosis is one of the leading infectious diseases plaguing mankind and is mediated by the facultative pathogen, Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB). Once the pathogen enters the body, it subverts the host immune defenses and thrives for extended periods of time within the host macrophages in the lung granulomas, a condition called latent tuberculosis (LTB). Persons with LTB are prone to reactivation of the disease when the body’s immunity is compromised. Currently there are no reliable and effective diagnosis and treatment options for LTB, which necessitates new research in this area. The mycobacterial proteins and genes mediating the adaptive responses inside the macrophage is largely yet to be determined. Recently, it has been shown that the mce operon genes are critical for host cell invasion by the mycobacterium and for establishing a persistent infection in both in vitro and in mouse models of tuberculosis. The YrbE and Mce proteins which are encoded by the MTB mce operons display high degrees of homology to the permeases and the surface binding protein of the ABC transports, respectively. Similarities in structure and cell surface location impute a role in cell invasion at cholesterol rich regions and immunomodulation. The mce4 operon is also thought to encode a cholesterol transport system that enables the mycobacterium to derive both energy and carbon from the host membrane lipids and possibly generating virulence mediating metabolites, thus enabling the bacteria in its long term survival within the granuloma. Various deletion mutation studies involving individual or whole mce operon genes have shown to be conferring varying degrees of attenuation of infectivity or at times hypervirulence to the host MTB, with the deletion of mce4A operon gene conferring the greatest degree of attenuation of virulence. Antisense technology using synthetic siRNAs has been used in knocking down genes in bacteria and over the years this has evolved into a powerful tool for elucidating the roles of various genes mediating infectivity and survival in mycobacteria. Molecular beacons are a newer class of antisense RNA tagged with a fluorophore/quencher pair and their use for in vivo detection and knockdown of mRNA is rapidly gaining popularity.

RNA degradosomes in bacteria and chloroplasts: classification, distribution and evolution of RNase E homologs

Ribonuclease E (RNase E) of Escherichia coli, which is the founding member of a widespread family of proteins in bacteria and chloroplasts, is a fascinating enzyme that still has not revealed all its secrets. RNase E is an essential single-strand specific endoribonuclease that is involved in the processing and degradation of nearly every transcript in E. coli. A striking enzymatic property is a preference for substrates with a 5' monophosphate end although recent work explains how RNase E can overcome the protection afforded by the 5' triphosphate end of a primary transcript. Other features of E. coli RNase E include its interaction with enzymes involved in RNA degradation to form the multienzyme RNA degradosome and its localization to the inner cytoplasmic membrane. The N-terminal catalytic core of the RNase E protomer associates to form a tetrameric holoenzyme. Each RNase E protomer has a large C-terminal intrinsically disordered (ID) noncatalytic region that contains sites for interactions with protein components of the RNA degradosome as well as RNA and phospholipid bilayers. In this review, RNase E homologs have been classified into five types based on their primary structure. A recent analysis has shown that type I RNase E in the γ-proteobacteria forms an orthologous group of proteins that has been inherited vertically. The RNase E catalytic core and a large ID noncatalytic region containing an RNA binding motif and a membrane targeting sequence are universally conserved features of these orthologs. Although the ID noncatalytic region has low composition and sequence complexity, it is possible to map microdomains, which are short linear motifs that are sites of interaction with protein and other ligands. Throughout bacteria, the composition of the multienzyme RNA degradosome varies with species, but interactions with exoribonucleases (PNPase, RNase R), glycolytic enzymes (enolase, aconitase) and RNA helicases (DEAD-box proteins, Rho) are common. Plasticity in RNA degradosome composition is due to rapid evolution of RNase E microdomains. Characterization of the RNase E-PNPase interaction in α-proteobacteria, γ-proteobacteria and cyanobacteria suggests that it arose independently several times during evolution, thus conferring an advantage in control and coordination of RNA processing and degradation.

Mycobacterial RNA isolation optimized for non-coding RNA: high fidelity isolation of 5S rRNA from Mycobacterium bovis BCG reveals novel post-transcriptional processing and a complete spectrum of modified ribonucleosides

A major challenge in the study of mycobacterial RNA biology is the lack of a comprehensive RNA isolation method that overcomes the unusual cell wall to faithfully yield the full spectrum of non-coding RNA (ncRNA) species. Here, we describe a simple and robust procedure optimized for the isolation of total ncRNA, including 5S, 16S and 23S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) and tRNA, from mycobacteria, using Mycobacterium bovis BCG to illustrate the method. Based on a combination of mechanical disruption and liquid and solid-phase technologies, the method produces all major species of ncRNA in high yield and with high integrity, enabling direct chemical and sequence analysis of the ncRNA species. The reproducibility of the method with BCG was evident in bioanalyzer electrophoretic analysis of isolated RNA, which revealed quantitatively significant differences in the ncRNA profiles of exponentially growing and non-replicating hypoxic bacilli. The method also overcame an historical inconsistency in 5S rRNA isolation, with direct sequencing revealing a novel post-transcriptional processing of 5S rRNA to its functional form and with chemical analysis revealing seven post-transcriptional ribonucleoside modifications in the 5S rRNA. This optimized RNA isolation procedure thus provides a means to more rigorously explore the biology of ncRNA species in mycobacteria.

RNase E forms a complex with polynucleotide phosphorylase in cyanobacteria via a cyanobacterial-specific nonapeptide in the noncatalytic region

RNase E, a central component involved in bacterial RNA metabolism, usually has a highly conserved N-terminal catalytic domain but an extremely divergent C-terminal domain. While the C-terminal domain of RNase E in Escherichia coli recruits other components to form an RNA degradation complex, it is unknown if a similar function can be found for RNase E in other organisms due to the divergent feature of this domain. Here, we provide evidence showing that RNase E forms a complex with another essential ribonuclease-the polynucleotide phosphorylase (PNPase)-in cyanobacteria, a group of ecologically important and phylogenetically ancient organisms. Sequence alignment for all cyanobacterial RNase E proteins revealed several conserved and variable subregions in their noncatalytic domains. One such subregion, an extremely conserved nonapeptide (RRRRRRSSA) located near the very end of RNase E, serves as the PNPase recognition site in both the filamentous cyanobacterium Anabaena PCC7120 and the unicellular cyanobacterium Synechocystis PCC6803. These results indicate that RNase E and PNPase form a ribonuclease complex via a common mechanism in cyanobacteria. The PNPase-recognition motif in cyanobacterial RNase E is distinct from those previously identified in Proteobacteria, implying a mechanism of coevolution for PNPase and RNase E in different organisms.

Initiation of mRNA decay in bacteria

The instability of messenger RNA is fundamental to the control of gene expression. In bacteria, mRNA degradation generally follows an "all-or-none" pattern. This implies that if control is to be efficient, it must occur at the initiating (and presumably rate-limiting) step of the degradation process. Studies of E. coli and B. subtilis, species separated by 3 billion years of evolution, have revealed the principal and very disparate enzymes involved in this process in the two organisms. The early view that mRNA decay in these two model organisms is radically different has given way to new models that can be resumed by "different enzymes-similar strategies". The recent characterization of key ribonucleases sheds light on an impressive case of convergent evolution that illustrates that the surprisingly similar functions of these totally unrelated enzymes are of general importance to RNA metabolism in bacteria. We now know that the major mRNA decay pathways initiate with an endonucleolytic cleavage in E. coli and B. subtilis and probably in many of the currently known bacteria for which these organisms are considered representative. We will discuss here the different pathways of eubacterial mRNA decay, describe the major players and summarize the events that can precede and/or favor nucleolytic inactivation of a mRNA, notably the role of the 5' end and translation initiation. Finally, we will discuss the role of subcellular compartmentalization of transcription, translation, and the RNA degradation machinery.

Global analysis of mRNA stability in Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) is a highly successful pathogen that infects over a billion people. As with most organisms, MTB adapts to stress by modifying its transcriptional profile. Remodeling of the transcriptome requires both altering the transcription rate and clearing away the existing mRNA through degradation, a process that can be directly regulated in response to stress. To understand better how MTB adapts to the harsh environs of the human host, we performed a global survey of the decay rates of MTB mRNA transcripts. Decay rates were measured for 2139 of the ∼4000 MTB genes, which displayed an average half-life of 9.5 min. This is nearly twice the average mRNA half-life of other prokaryotic organisms where these measurements have been made. The transcriptome was further stabilized in response to lowered temperature and hypoxic stress. The generally stable transcriptome described here, and the additional stabilization in response to physiologically relevant stresses, has far-ranging implications for how this pathogen is able to adapt in its human host.

Membrane binding of Escherichia coli RNase E catalytic domain stabilizes protein structure and increases RNA substrate affinity

RNase E plays an essential role in RNA processing and decay and tethers to the cytoplasmic membrane in Escherichia coli; however, the function of this membrane-protein interaction has remained unclear. Here, we establish a mechanistic role for the RNase E-membrane interaction. The reconstituted highly conserved N-terminal fragment of RNase E (NRne, residues 1-499) binds specifically to anionic phospholipids through electrostatic interactions. The membrane-binding specificity of NRne was confirmed using circular dichroism difference spectroscopy; the dissociation constant (K(d)) for NRne binding to anionic liposomes was 298 nM. E. coli RNase G and RNase E/G homologs from phylogenetically distant Aquifex aeolicus, Haemophilus influenzae Rd, and Synechocystis sp. were found to be membrane-binding proteins. Electrostatic potentials of NRne and its homologs were found to be conserved, highly positive, and spread over a large surface area encompassing four putative membrane-binding regions identified in the "large" domain (amino acids 1-400, consisting of the RNase H, S1, 5'-sensor, and DNase I subdomains) of E. coli NRne. In vitro cleavage assay using liposome-free and liposome-bound NRne and RNA substrates BR13 and GGG-RNAI showed that NRne membrane binding altered its enzymatic activity. Circular dichroism spectroscopy showed no obvious thermotropic structural changes in membrane-bound NRne between 10 and 60 °C, and membrane-bound NRne retained its normal cleavage activity after cooling. Thus, NRne membrane binding induced changes in secondary protein structure and enzymatic activation by stabilizing the protein-folding state and increasing its binding affinity for its substrate. Our results demonstrate that RNase E-membrane interaction enhances the rate of RNA processing and decay.

From conformational chaos to robust regulation: the structure and function of the multi-enzyme RNA degradosome

The RNA degradosome is a massive multi-enzyme assembly that occupies a nexus in RNA metabolism and post-transcriptional control of gene expression inEscherichia coliand many other bacteria. Powering RNA turnover and quality control, the degradosome serves also as a machine for processing structured RNA precursors during their maturation. The capacity to switch between destructive and processing modes involves cooperation between degradosome components and is analogous to the process of RNA surveillance in other domains of life. Recruitment of components and cellular compartmentalisation of the degradosome are mediated through small recognition domains that punctuate a natively unstructured segment within a scaffolding core. Dynamic in conformation, variable in composition and non-essential under certain laboratory conditions, the degradosome has nonetheless been maintained throughout the evolution of many bacterial species, due most likely to its diverse contributions in global cellular regulation. We describe the role of the degradosome and its components in RNA decay pathways inE. coli, and we broadly compare these pathways in other bacteria as well as archaea and eukaryotes. We discuss the modular architecture and molecular evolution of the degradosome, its roles in RNA degradation, processing and quality control surveillance, and how its activity is regulated by non-coding RNA. Parallels are drawn with analogous machinery in organisms from all life domains. Finally, we conjecture on roles of the degradosome as a regulatory hub for complex cellular processes.

mRNA degradation and maturation in prokaryotes: the global players

The degradation of messenger RNA is of universal importance for controlling gene expression. It directly affects protein synthesis by modulating the amount of mRNA available for translation. Regulation of mRNA decay provides an efficient means to produce just the proteins needed and to rapidly alter patterns of protein synthesis. In bacteria, the half-lives of individual mRNAs can differ by as much as two orders of magnitude, ranging from seconds to an hour. Most of what we know today about the diverse mechanisms of mRNA decay and maturation in prokaryotes comes from studies of the two model organisms Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis. Their evolutionary distance provided a large picture of potential pathways and enzymes involved in mRNA turnover. Among them are three ribonucleases, two of which have been discovered only recently, which have a truly general role in the initiating events of mRNA degradation: RNase E, RNase J and RNase Y. Their enzymatic characteristics probably determine the strategies of mRNA metabolism in the organism in which they are present. These ribonucleases are coded, alone or in various combinations, in all prokaryotic genomes, thus reflecting how mRNA turnover has been adapted to different ecological niches throughout evolution.

Mycobacterium smegmatis RNase J is a 5'-3' exo-/endoribonuclease and both RNase J and RNase E are involved in ribosomal RNA maturation

The presence of very different sets of enzymes, and in particular the presence of RNase E and RNase J, has been used to explain significant differences in RNA metabolism between the two model organisms Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis. However, these studies might have somewhat polarized our view of RNA metabolism. Here, we identified a RNase J in Mycobacterium smegmatis that has both 5'-3' exo- and endonucleolytic activity. This enzyme coexists with RNase E in this organism, a configuration that enabled us to study how these two key nucleases collaborate. We demonstrate that RNase E is responsible for the processing of the furA-katG transcript in M. smegmatis and that both RNase E and RNase J are involved in the 5' end processing of all ribosomal RNAs. In contrast to B. subtilis, the activity of RNase J, although required in vivo for 23S rRNA maturation, is not essential in M. smegmatis. We show that the pathways for ribosomal RNA maturation in M. smegmatis are quite different from those observed in E. coli and in B. subtilis. Studying organisms containing different combinations of key ribonucleases can thus significantly broaden our view of the possible strategies that exist to direct RNA metabolism.

Isolation of conditional expression mutants in Mycobacterium tuberculosis by transposon mutagenesis

In Mycobacterium tuberculosis identification of essential genes has been hampered by the scarcity of suitable genetic tools for genome wide screenings. We constructed two Himar1 transposon derivatives in which the Streptomyces pristinamycin I-inducible ptr promoter was inserted at one transposon end in outward orientation. These transposons, Tn-pip/pptr (which harbours the promoter and its repressor pip gene) and Tn-pptr (which depends on a host expressing the pip gene), were inserted in the thermosensitive mycobacteriophage phAE87. After transduction into M. tuberculosis H37Rv, hygromycin resistant clones were selected in the presence of pristinamycin, screened for inducer dependent growth, and the transposon insertion point mapped by sequencing. Out of 3530 Hyg(R) mutants tested, we obtained 14 (0.4%) single insertion conditional mutants. In three (leuA, mazE6, rne) pptr was located upstream of genes whose function had been assessed by experimental evidence, whereas in seven the transposon targeted genes (ftsK, glf, infB, metC, pyrD, secY, and tuf) whose function had been assigned by similarity with homologous genes and four ORFs of unknown function (Rv0883c, Rv1478, Rv2050 and Rv2204c). These results validate our mutagenesis system and provide previously unavailable conditional expression mutants in genes of known, putative and unknown functions for genetic and physiological studies.

Composition and conservation of the mRNA-degrading machinery in bacteria

RNA synthesis and decay counteract each other and therefore inversely regulate gene expression in pro- and eukaryotic cells by controlling the steady-state level of individual transcripts. Genetic and biochemical data together with recent in depth annotation of bacterial genomes indicate that many components of the bacterial RNA decay machinery are evolutionarily conserved and that their functional analogues exist in organisms belonging to all kingdoms of life. Here we briefly review biological functions of essential enzymes, their evolutionary conservation and multienzyme complexes that are involved in mRNA decay in Escherichia coli and discuss their conservation in evolutionarily distant bacteria.

MSMEG_4626 ribonuclease from Mycobacterium smegmatis

The MSMEG_4626 gene was cloned from Mycobacterium smegmatis MC2 155. It codes for a protein of 1,037 amino acids, identified as ribonuclease E by matching to the protein family HMM TIGR00757. The protein was expressed and purified. Although its calculated molecular weight is 112.7 kDa, it has an aberrant mobility in SDS-polyacrylamide gels, like other ribonuclease E enzymes (it migrates as a 180 kDa protein). The central part of the protein displays high similarity to the catalytic domains of other RNase E enzymes. Mass spectrometric analysis revealed the presence of the chaperonin GroEL, ribosomal proteins, a negative regulator of genetic competence and GTP pyrophosphokinase in the affinity-purified preparation. It is a very unstable protein; despite the use of protease inhibitors in addition to the full-length RNase E its proteolytic fragments were detected.

Endonucleolytic initiation of mRNA decay in Escherichia coli

Instability is a fundamental property of mRNA that is necessary for the regulation of gene expression. In E. coli, the turnover of mRNA involves multiple, redundant pathways involving 3'-exoribonucleases, endoribonucleases, and a variety of other enzymes that modify RNA covalently or affect its conformation. Endoribonucleases are thought to initiate or accelerate the process of mRNA degradation. A major endoribonuclease in this process is RNase E, which is a key component of the degradative machinery amongst the Proteobacteria. RNase E is the central element in a multienzyme complex known as the RNA degradosome. Structural and functional data are converging on models for the mechanism of activation and regulation of RNase E and its paralog, RNase G. Here, we discuss current models for mRNA degradation in E. coli and we present current thinking on the structure and function of RNase E based on recent crystal structures of its catalytic core.