Delihas N
Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, School of Medicine, State University of New York, Stony Brook 11794-5222, USA.
Mol Microbiol. 1995 Feb;15(3):411-4. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2958.1995.tb02254.x.
Members of a class of antisense RNAs are encoded by genes that are located at loci other than those of their target genes. Three examples of antisense RNA genes are discussed here. micF is found in Escherichia coli and other bacteria and functions to control outer membrane protein F levels in response to environmental stimuli. dicF is also found in E. coli and is involved in the regulation of cell division. lin-4 is found in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans and functions during larval development. Nucleotide sequences of at least two of these genes appear to be phylogenetically conserved. The trans-encoded antisense RNAs are small RNAs which display only partial complementarity to their target RNAs. Models for RNA/RNA interactions have been proposed. It is possible that currently known unlinked antisense RNA genes are part of a larger class of heretofore undiscovered regulatory RNA genes. Possible ways of detecting other unlinked antisense RNA genes are discussed.
一类反义RNA的成员由位于其靶基因位点以外的基因编码。这里讨论反义RNA基因的三个例子。micF存在于大肠杆菌和其他细菌中，其功能是响应环境刺激来控制外膜蛋白F的水平。dicF也存在于大肠杆菌中，参与细胞分裂的调控。lin-4存在于线虫秀丽隐杆线虫中，在幼虫发育过程中发挥作用。这些基因中至少有两个的核苷酸序列似乎在系统发育上是保守的。反式编码的反义RNA是小RNA，它们与其靶RNA仅显示部分互补性。已经提出了RNA/RNA相互作用的模型。目前已知的非连锁反义RNA基因有可能是迄今尚未发现的更大一类调控RNA基因的一部分。讨论了检测其他非连锁反义RNA基因的可能方法。
