@article{90241, keywords = {Base Sequence, Nucleic Acid Conformation, Escherichia coli, Molecular Sequence Data, Inverted Repeat Sequences, Quorum Sensing, RNA, Bacterial, RNA, Messenger, RNA, Small Untranslated, Vibrio}, author = {Lihui Feng and Steven Rutherford and Kai Papenfort and John Bagert and van Julia Kessel and David Tirrell and Ned Wingreen and Bonnie Bassler}, title = {A qrr noncoding RNA deploys four different regulatory mechanisms to optimize quorum-sensing dynamics.}, abstract = { Quorum sensing is a cell-cell communication process that bacteria use to transition between individual and~social lifestyles. In vibrios, homologous small RNAs called the Qrr sRNAs function at the center of quorum-sensing pathways. The Qrr sRNAs regulate multiple mRNA targets including those encoding the quorum-sensing regulatory components luxR, luxO, luxM, and aphA. We show that a representative Qrr,~Qrr3, uses four distinct mechanisms to control~its~particular targets: the Qrr3 sRNA represses luxR~through catalytic degradation, represses luxM through coupled degradation, represses luxO through sequestration, and activates aphA by revealing the~ribosome binding site while the sRNA itself is degraded. Qrr3 forms different base-pairing interactions with each mRNA target, and the particular pairing strategy determines which regulatory mechanism occurs. Combined mathematical modeling and experiments show that the specific Qrr regulatory mechanism employed governs the potency, dynamics, and~competition of target mRNA regulation, which in turn, defines the overall quorum-sensing response. }, year = {2015}, journal = {Cell}, volume = {160}, pages = {228-40}, month = {01/2015}, issn = {1097-4172}, doi = {10.1016/j.cell.2014.11.051}, language = {eng}, }