Corynebacterium glutamicum RNase E/G-type endoribonuclease encoded by NCgl2281 is involved in the 5' maturation of 5S rRNA.

Corynebacterium glutamicum has one RNase E/G ortholog and one RNase J ortholog but no RNase Y. We previously reported that the C. glutamicum NCgl2281 gene encoding the RNase E/G ortholog complemented the rng::cat mutation in Escherichia coli but not the rne-1 mutation. In this study, we constructed an NCgl2281 knockout mutant and found that the mutant cells accumulated 5S rRNA precursor molecules. The processing of 16S and 23S rRNA, tRNA, and tmRNA was normal. Primer extension analysis revealed that the RNase E/G ortholog cleaved at the -1 site of the 5' end of 5S rRNA. However, 3' maturation was essentially unaffected. These findings showed that C. glutamicum NCgl2281 endoribonuclease is involved in the 5' maturation of 5S rRNA. This is the first report showing the physiological function of the RNase E/G ortholog in bacteria having one RNase E/G and one RNase J but no RNase Y.