Project Details
Projekt
Identification and function of regulatory RNA in the phototropic model organism Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803
Subject Area
Metabolism, Biochemistry and Genetics of Microorganisms
Term
from 2007 to 2014
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 41591666
Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) serve as sequence-specific regulators of gene expression in all domains of life. In the previous funding period we have unraveled the nearly complete set of ncRNAs and antisense RNAs in the model cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 in a comprehensive and systematical way using a combination of transcriptome sequencing, detailed microarray analysis, computational prediction of ncRNA genes, complemented by extensive Northern and 5’ TAP-RACE experiments. These analyses demonstrated the presence of several hundred such loci giving rise to potentially regulatory RNA molecules. We performed knock-out mutations of genes for several of the most promising ncRNA genes and proteins with key functions in the metabolism of RNA (RNase III, RNase E/G, Hfq), developing Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 into a true model for the analysis of regulatory RNAs in cyanobacteria. In the new funding period we will shift our focus on the functional analysis of several selected ncRNAs, plasmid-encoded CRISPR-RNAs, the cyanobacterial Hfq homologue and RNA degradation pathways.
DFG Programme
Priority Programmes
Subproject of
SPP 1258:
Sensory and Regulatory RNAs in Prokaryotes
