[Putative temperature sensitive riboswitchers in Salmonella genome]

Currently, a number of structurally and functionally different temperature-sensitive elements like as RNA thermometers which control a variety of biological processes of bacteria, including virulence, are known. Well-known RNA thermometers correspond to one long step-loop structure or few hairpins which can be matched or mismatched. Based on the computer and thermodynamical analysis of 25 isolates of Salmonella enterica with complete genome, algorithm and the criteria of search for putative RNA thermometers were developed. It will permit to perform the search of potential riboswitchers in genome of socially significant pathogens in the future. For S. enterica, in addition to well-known 4U RNA thermometer, four step-loop structures that may be new RNA thermometers were identified and two of them are localized in 5'-UTR of virulence regulators gltB and yaeQ. They correspond to necessary and sufficient conditions of RNA thermometer formation as far as these highly conservative structures are found in genome of all 25 isolates of S. enterica. Matched hairpins forming cruciform structure in supercoiled pUC8 plasmid were visualized by atomic force microscopy.