Identification of MazF Homologue in < b > < i > Legionella pneumophila < /i > < /b > Which Cleaves RNA at the AACU Sequence

MazF is a sequence-specific endoribonuclease that is widely conserved in bacteria and archaea. Here, we found an MazF homologue (MazF-lp; LPO-p0114) inLegionella pneumophila. The mazF-lp gene overlaps 14 base pairs with the upstream gene mazE-lp (MazE-lp; LPO-p0115). The induction ofmazF-lp caused cell growth arrest, whilemazE-lp co-induction recovered cell growth inEscherichia coli. In vivo and in vitro primer extension experiments showed that MazF-lp is a sequence-specific endoribonuclease cleaving RNA at AACU. The endoribonuclease activity of purified MazF-lp was inhibited by purified MazE-lp. We found that MazE-lp and the MazEF-lp complex specifically bind to the palindromic sequence present in the 5 ′-untranslated region of themazEF-lp operon. MazE-lp and MazEF-lp both likely function as a repressor for themazEF-lp operon and for other genes, includingicmR, whose gene product functions as a secretion chaperone for the IcmQ pore-forming protein, by specifically binding to the palindromic sequence in 5 ′-UTR of these genes.J Mol Microbiol Biotechnol 2018;28:269 –280
Source: Journal of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology - Category: Microbiology Source Type: research