Thursday, 21. November 2019, 10.00 a.m. 

Ernst-Abbe-Platz 2, Seminarraum 3319

How to regulate genes with RNA – “Lessons from bacterial small regulatory RNAs”

Prof. Dr. Kai Papenfort
(Faculty of Bioscience, Microbiology, FSU Jena)

Recently recognized to occur by the hundreds or thousands in the genomes of nearly all organisms, regulatory RNAs control complex biological functions ranging from embryonic development to bacterial virulence. In bacteria, small RNAs (sRNAs) constitute the best-studied class of non-coding regulators estimated to control up to 20% of all genes in a given organism. The sRNAs typically control gene expression by base-pairing with multiple trans-encoded target mRNAs affecting transcript stability and translation initiation. sRNA regulators are modular, versatile, and highly programmable, and therefore have gathered momentum as control devices in synthetic biology and biotechnology. In this presentation, I will discuss the mechanistic principles underlying sRNA-mediated gene control in bacteria and highlight their regulatory roles in pathogenic microorganisms.