Cell Biology and Metabolism Program, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Bethesda, MD 20892-5430, USA.
FEMS Microbiol Rev. 2010 Sep;34(5):866-82. doi: 10.1111/j.1574-6976.2010.00241.x. Epub 2010 Jun 23.
Bacteria use a range of RNA regulators collectively termed small RNAs (sRNAs) to help respond to changes in the environment. Many sRNAs regulate their target mRNAs through limited base-pairing interactions. Ongoing characterization of base-pairing sRNAs in bacteria has started to reveal how these sRNAs participate in global regulatory networks. These networks can be broken down into smaller regulatory circuits that have characteristic behaviors and functions. In this review, we describe the specific regulatory circuits that incorporate base-pairing sRNAs and the importance of each circuit in global regulation. Because most of these circuits were originally identified as network motifs in transcriptional networks, we also discuss why sRNAs may be used over protein transcription factors to help transduce environmental signals.
细菌使用一系列被称为小 RNA（sRNA）的 RNA 调节剂来帮助应对环境变化。许多 sRNA 通过有限的碱基配对相互作用来调节其靶 mRNA。目前对细菌中碱基配对 sRNA 的特征描述已开始揭示这些 sRNA 如何参与全局调控网络。这些网络可以细分为具有特征行为和功能的更小的调控回路。在这篇综述中，我们描述了包含碱基配对 sRNA 的特定调控回路以及每个回路在全局调控中的重要性。由于这些回路最初是在转录网络中作为网络基序被识别出来的，因此我们还讨论了为什么 sRNA 可能被用于替代蛋白质转录因子来帮助转导环境信号。
