Role of RNA Structure and Susceptibility to RNase E in Regulation of a Cold Shock mRNA, cspA mRNA

Abstract

Degradation of the cspA mRNA in vivo is very rapid at temperatures greater than 30°C and is moderately dependent on RNase E. Investigations in vitro show that degradosomes prepared from normal or cold-shocked cultures cleave the cspA mRNA preferentially at a single site in vitro between two stem-loops ∼24 residues 3′ to the termination codon and ∼31 residues from the 3′ end. The site of cleavage is independent of the temperature and largely independent of the phosphorylation status of the 5′ end of cspA mRNA. A 5′ stem-loop, potential occlusion of the initiation and termination codons, temperature-dependent translational efficiency, and the position of the RNase E cleavage site can explain the differential stability of the cspA mRNA.