In molecular biology, VR-RNA is a

small RNA Small RNA (sRNA) are polymeric RNA molecules that are less than 200 nucleotides in length, and are usually non-coding. RNA silencing is often a function of these molecules, with the most common and well-studied example being RNA interference (RNA ...

produced by ''

Clostridium perfringens ''Clostridium perfringens'' (formerly known as ''C. welchii'', or ''Bacillus welchii'') is a Gram-positive, rod-shaped, anaerobic, spore-forming pathogenic bacterium of the genus '' Clostridium''. ''C. perfringens'' is ever-present in nature an ...

''. It functions as a regulator of the two-component VirR/VirS system. VR-RNA regulates numerous

genes In biology, the word gene (from , ; "... Wilhelm Johannsen coined the word gene to describe the Mendelian units of heredity..." meaning ''generation'' or ''birth'' or ''gender'') can have several different meanings. The Mendelian gene is a b ...

including: *

Toxin A toxin is a naturally occurring organic poison produced by metabolic activities of living cells or organisms. Toxins occur especially as a protein or conjugated protein. The term toxin was first used by organic chemist Ludwig Brieger (1849 ...

-encoding genes plc, colA and cpb2 *Other virulence-related genes such as

hyaluronidase Hyaluronidases are a family of enzymes that catalyse the degradation of hyaluronic acid (HA). Karl Meyer classified these enzymes in 1971, into three distinct groups, a scheme based on the enzyme reaction products. The three main types of hyalu ...

s and

sialidase Exo-α-sialidase (EC 3.2.1.18, sialidase, neuraminidase; systematic name acetylneuraminyl hydrolase) is a glycoside hydrolase that cleaves the glycosidic linkages of neuraminic acids: : Hydrolysis of α-(2→3)-, α-(2→6)-, α-(2→8)- glycos ...

*Possible collagen

adhesin Adhesins are proteins on the surface of living cells that allow the organism to colonize various surfaces and may refer to: *Adhesin molecule (immunoglobulin -like) *Bacterial adhesin *Fungal adhesin See also

*Adhesion (disambiguation) *Cell ...

gene () *

Extracellular This glossary of biology terms is a list of definitions of fundamental terms and concepts used in biology, the study of life and of living organisms. It is intended as introductory material for novices; for more specific and technical definitions ...

nuclease A nuclease (also archaically known as nucleodepolymerase or polynucleotidase) is an enzyme capable of cleaving the phosphodiester bonds between nucleotides of nucleic acids. Nucleases variously effect single and double stranded breaks in their t ...

, cadA *Enzymes such as

Acid phosphatase Acid phosphatase (EC 3.1.3.2, acid phosphomonoesterase', phosphomonoesterase, glycerophosphatase, acid monophosphatase, acid phosphohydrolase, acid phosphomonoester hydrolase, uteroferrin, acid nucleoside diphosphate phosphatase, orthophosphoric-m ...

Heme oxygenase Heme oxygenase, or haem oxygenase, (HMOX, commonly abbreviated as HO) is an enzyme that catalyzes the degradation of heme to produce biliverdin, ferrous ion, and carbon monoxide. There are many heme degrading enzymes in nature. In general, on ...

HemO and N-acetylglucosaminidases *Genes encoding transport proteins *Genes involved in

carbohydrate In organic chemistry, a carbohydrate () is a biomolecule consisting of carbon (C), hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O) atoms, usually with a hydrogen–oxygen atom ratio of 2:1 (as in water) and thus with the empirical formula (where ''m'' may or ...

metabolism Metabolism (, from el, μεταβολή ''metabolē'', "change") is the set of life-sustaining chemical reactions in organisms. The three main functions of metabolism are: the conversion of the energy in food to energy available to run c ...

*Genes encoding transport proteins *

Arginine deiminase In enzymology, an arginine deiminase () is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction :L-arginine + H2O \rightleftharpoons L-citrulline + NH3 Thus, the two substrates of this enzyme are L-arginine and H2O, whereas its two products are L ...

(ADI) pathway genes *Genes involved in

citrate Citric acid is an organic compound with the chemical formula HOC(CO2H)(CH2CO2H)2. It is a colorless weak organic acid. It occurs naturally in citrus fruits. In biochemistry, it is an intermediate in the citric acid cycle, which occurs in t ...

metabolism VR-RNA regulates the toxin colA (

collagenase Collagenases are enzymes that break the peptide bonds in collagen. They assist in destroying extracellular structures in the pathogenesis of bacteria such as ''Clostridium''. They are considered a virulence factor, facilitating the spread of ...

) by

base-pairing A base pair (bp) is a fundamental unit of double-stranded nucleic acids consisting of two nucleobases bound to each other by hydrogen bonds. They form the building blocks of the DNA double helix and contribute to the folded structure of both DNA ...

to colA

mRNA In molecular biology, messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) is a single-stranded molecule of RNA that corresponds to the genetic sequence of a gene, and is read by a ribosome in the process of synthesizing a protein. mRNA is created during the ...

, the

3′ Directionality, in molecular biology and biochemistry, is the end-to-end chemical orientation of a single strand of nucleic acid. In a single strand of DNA or RNA, the chemical convention of naming carbon atoms in the nucleotide pentose-sugar-ri ...

end of VR-RNA base-pairs to a region in the 5′UTR of the colA mRNA. This induces cleavage of the colA mRNA in the 5′ UTR and leads to stabilisation of the mRNA and increased

translation Translation is the communication of the Meaning (linguistic), meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The ...

References

{{reflist RNA Non-coding RNA