RNA thermometer

Synthetic RNA thermometers have been designed with just a simple single-hairpin structure.

In addition, RNA thermometers regulate gene expression in response to temperature changes.

The secondary structure is thought to be altered by temperature, thus it is an RNA thermometer.

In general, RNA thermometers operate by changing their secondary structure in response to temperature fluctuations.

More recently, bioinformatics searches have been employed to uncover several novel candidate RNA thermometers.

Though predominantly found in prokaryotes, a potential RNA thermometer has been found in mammals including humans.

Though typically associated with heat-induced protein expression, RNA thermometers can also regulate cold-shock proteins.

RNA thermometers sensitive to temperatures of 37 C can be used by pathogens to activate infection-specific genes.

RNA thermometers and riboswitches are thought to be evolutionarily ancient due to their wide-scale distribution in distantly-related organisms.

RNA thermometers such as FourU control regulation of temperature via heat shock proteins in many prokaryotes.

Further speculation suggests the simpler RNA thermometer method of gene regulation may have evolved prior to the more complex sigma factor transcription control.

RNA thermometers, along with riboswitches, are used as examples in support of the RNA world hypothesis.

FourU thermometers are a class of non-coding RNA thermometers found in Salmonella.

Like other RNA thermometers, FourU is not solely responsible for temperature-dependent expression of its adjacent gene.

The ROSE element is an RNA thermometer that negatively regulates heat shock gene expression.

The most well-studied RNA thermometer is found in the rpoH gene in Escherichia coli.

Other known RNA thermometers include the ROSE element and Hsp90 cis-reg element.

The IbpB thermometer is an RNA thermometer element found in the ibpAB operon.

However, the primary sequence of such short RNA thermometers can be sensitive to mutation, as a single base change can render the hairpin inactive in vivo.

A specific example of an RNA thermometer motif is the FourU thermometer found in Salmonella enterica.

RNA thermometers in modern organisms may be molecular fossils which could hint at a previously more widespread importance in an RNA world.

The 5' UTR element acts as an RNA thermometer, regulating the expression of cspA in response to temperature.

Unlike other RNA thermometers (such as FourU), the secondary structure is not reliant on the melting of a hairpin in order to affect gene expression.

RNA thermometers often regulate genes required during either a heat shock or cold shock response, but have been implicated in other regulatory roles such as in pathogenicity and starvation.

This RNA thermometer is now thought to encourage entry to a lytic cycle under heat stress in order for the bacteriophage to rapidly replicate and escape the host cell.