Architectural principles for Hfq/Crc-mediated regulation of gene expression
- University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
- University of Vienna, Austria
- MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, United Kingdom
Abstract
In diverse bacterial species, the global regulator Hfq contributes to post-transcriptional networks that control expression of numerous genes. Hfq of the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa inhibits translation of target transcripts by forming a regulatory complex with the catabolite repression protein Crc. This repressive complex acts part of an intricate mechanism of preferred nutrient utilisation. We describe high-resolution cryo-EM structures of the assembly of Hfq and Crc bound to the translation initiation site of a target mRNA. The core of the assembly is formed through interactions of two cognate RNAs, two Hfq hexamers and a Crc pair. Additional Crc protomers are recruited to the core to generate higher-order assemblies with demonstrated regulatory activity in vivo. This study reveals how Hfq cooperates with a partner protein to regulate translation, and provides a structural basis for an RNA code that guides global regulators to interact cooperatively and regulate different RNA targets.
Data availability
CryoEM data have been deposited
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Author details
Funding
Wellcome Trust (200873/Z/16/Z)
- Ben F Luisi
Austrian Science Fund (P28711-B22)
- Udo Blasi
The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.
Copyright
© 2019, Pei et al.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
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Architectural principles for Hfq/Crc-mediated regulation of gene expression
eLife 8:e43158.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.43158
