Riboswitches in Eubacteria Sense the Second Messenger Cyclic Di-GMP

• Published in: Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 321; no. 5887; pp. 411 - 413
• Main Authors: SUDARSAN, N, LEE, E. R, WEINBERG, Z, MOY, R. H, KIM, J. N, LINK, K. H, BREAKER, R. R
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Association for the Advancement of Science 18-07-2008; The American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Subjects: Aptamers, Nucleotide - metabolism; Bacillus cereus - genetics; Bacillus cereus - metabolism; Bacteria; Bacteria - genetics; Bacteria - metabolism; Bacteriology; Bacteriophages - genetics; Base Sequence; Biological and medical sciences; Cellular biology; Clostridioides difficile - genetics; Clostridioides difficile - metabolism; Cyclic GMP - analogs & derivatives; Cyclic GMP - metabolism; Eubacteria; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gene expression; Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; Genes, Bacterial; Genetics; Genomics; Ligands; Microbiology; Molecular Sequence Data; Nucleic Acid Conformation; Regulon; Ribonucleic acid; RNA; RNA, Bacterial - chemistry; RNA, Bacterial - metabolism; RNA, Messenger - chemistry; RNA, Messenger - metabolism; Second Messenger Systems; Vibrio cholerae - genetics; Vibrio cholerae - metabolism; Regulation(control); Riboswitch; Eubacteria; Second messenger; Bacteria; GMP; Gene expression
• ISSN: 0036-8075; 1095-9203; 1095-9203
• DOI: 10.1126/science.1159519

Cyclic di-guanosine monophosphate (di-GMP) is a circular RNA dinucleotide that functions as a second messenger in diverse species of bacteria to trigger wide-ranging physiological changes, including cell differentiation, conversion between motile and biofilm lifestyles, and virulence gene expression. However, the mechanisms by which cyclic di-GMP regulates gene expression have remained a mystery. We found that cyclic di-GMP in many bacterial species is sensed by a riboswitch class in messenger RNA that controls the expression of genes involved in numerous fundamental cellular processes. A variety of cyclic di-GMP regulons are revealed, including some riboswitches associated with virulence gene expression, pilus formation, and flagellum biosynthesis. In addition, sequences matching the consensus for cyclic di-GMP riboswitches are present in the genome of a bacteriophage.