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Critical Reviews in Biochemistry and
Molecular Biology
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From Ribosome to Riboswitch: Control of Gene
Expression in Bacteria by RNA Structural
Rearrangements
Frank J. Grundy
a
; Tina M. Henkin
a
a
Department of Microbiology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA
Online Publication Date: 01 December 2006
To cite this Article: Grundy, Frank J. and Henkin, Tina M. (2006) 'From Ribosome to
Riboswitch: Control of Gene Expression in Bacteria by RNA Structural
Rearrangements', Critical Reviews in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 41:6, 329
- 338
To link to this article: DOI: 10.1080/10409230600914294
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10409230600914294
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Critical Reviews in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology , 41:329–338, 2006
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Informa Healthcare
ISSN: 1040-9238 print / 1549-7798 online
DOI: 10.1080/10409230600914294
From Ribosome to Riboswitch: Control of
Gene Expression in Bacteria by RNA
Structural Rearrangements
Frank J. Grundy
and Tina M. Henkin
Department of Microbiology,
The Ohio State University,
Columbus, Ohio, USA
ABSTRACT Structural elements in the 5 region of a bacterial mRNA can have
major effects on expression of downstream coding sequences. Folding of the
nascent RNA into the helix of an intrinsic transcriptional terminator results
in premature termination of transcription and in failure to synthesize the full-
length transcript. Structure in the translation initiation region of an mRNA
blocks access of the translation initiation complex to the ribosome binding
site, thereby preventing protein synthesis. RNA structures can also affect the
stability of an RNA by altering sensitivity to ribonucleases. A wide variety
of mechanisms have been uncovered in which changes in mRNA structure in
response to a regulatory signal are used to modulate gene expression in bacteria.