Studies on the structure and function of bacterial 6S RNA, a putative transcriptional regulator

6S RNA是细菌中广泛存在的一种非编码RNA(NcRNA)，影响转录。由于与开放启动子的结构相似，DNA 6S RNA与RNA聚合酶结合，从而抑制与许多但不是所有启动子的相互作用。基于全基因组转录组分析的结果，我们计划调查6S RNA特异性的分子细节，这些差异仍未解决，导致单个基因的差异调节。此外，在6S RNA耗尽的条件下，应确定组成翻译装置的组件的显著变化的表达水平的意义。RNA聚合酶与6S RNA结合，引导小分子从头RNA产物的转录，从而释放6S RNA对RNA聚合酶的抑制作用，这一特性对未来的研究具有特殊的意义。为了分析这一过程的细节，并发现从头RNA在细胞中可能的内在功能，我们计划构建6S RNA突变，并表征它们的表达和功能。此外，还应进行实验，以确定细胞中潜在的6S RNA相互作用分子。最后，将对有趣的核糖体调节剂的可能的进一步功能进行筛选，到目前为止，我们可能没有意识到这一功能。

6S RNA is a widespread non-coding RNA (ncRNA) in bacteria, which affects transcription. Due to the structural similarity with open promoter DNA 6S RNA binds to RNA polymerase and thereby inhibits the interaction with many but not all promoters. Based on the results of genome-wide transcriptome analysis we plan to investigate the molecular details of the still unresolved differences of the 6S RNA specificity, causing a differential regulation of individual genes. Moreover, under condition of 6S RNA depletion the significance of the strikingly changed expression level of the components constituting the translational apparatus shall be determined. The exceptionally striking property of RNA polymerase bound 6S RNA to direct the transcription of small de novo RNA products, thereby releasing the 6S RNA-mediated inhibition of RNA polymerase, is of special interest for the future investigation. To analyze the details of this process and to discover possible intrinsic functions of the de novo RNAs in the cell we plan to construct 6S RNA mutations and characterize their expression and function. In addition, experiments to identify potential 6S RNA-interacting molecules in the cell shall be performed. Finally, a screen for possible further functions of the interesting riboregulator, which may have escaped our notion so far, shall be carried out.