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Published on: May 2, 2018
Translation attenuation regulation of chloramphenicol resistance in bacteria--a review
1Department of Biological Sciences, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Catonsville, MD 21228, USA. lovett@umbc.edu
Abstract:
The chloramphenicol (Cm)-inducible cat and cmlA genes are regulated by translation attenuation, a regulatory device that modulates mRNA translation. In this form of gene regulation, translation of the CmR coding sequence is prevented by mRNA secondary structure that sequesters its ribosome-binding site (RBS). A translated leader of nine codons precedes the secondary structure, and induction results when a ribosome becomes stalled at a specific site in the leader. Here we demonstrate that the site of ribosome stalling in the leader is selected by a cis effect of the nascent leader peptide on its translating ribosome.
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