부산대학교 도서관

Small RNAs post-transcriptionally regulate many processes inbacteria. Base-pairing of sRNAs near ribosome-binding sites inmRNAs inhibits translation, often requiring the RNA chaperoneHfq. In the canonical model, Hfq simultaneously binds sRNAs andmRNA targets to accelerate pairing. Here, we show that theEscher-ichia colisRNAs OmrA and OmrB inhibit translation of the diguany-late cyclase DgcM (previously: YdaM), a player in biofilmregulation. In OmrA/B repression ofdgcM, Hfq is not required as anRNA interaction platform, but rather unfolds an inhibitory RNAstructure that impedes OmrA/B binding. This restructuring involvesdistal face binding of Hfq and is supported by RNA structuremapping. A corresponding mutant protein cannot support inhibi-tionin vitroandin vivo; proximal and rim mutations have negligi-ble effects. Strikingly, OmrA/B-dependent translational inhibitionin vitrois restored, in complete absence of Hfq, by a deoxyoligori-bonucleotide that base-pairs to the biochemically mapped Hfq siteindgcMmRNA. We suggest that Hfq-dependent RNA structureremodeling can promote sRNA access, which represents a mecha-nism distinct from an interaction platform model.