A cis-encoded RNA interaction controls sub-operonic spoVG expression in Staphylococcus aureus
- 1Australian Institute for Microbiology and Infection, University of Technology Sydney, Ultimo, NSW 2007, Australia.
Abstract
Bacterial operons enable co-transcription of multiple genes, yet post-transcriptional mechanisms permitting differential regulation of individual genes within a polycistronic transcript remains incompletely understood. We demonstrate that a cis-encoded RNA-RNA interaction within the bicistronic yabJ-spoVG transcript forms an RNase III substrate that represses the transcription factor SpoVG in Staphylococcus aureus. Disruption of the cis-encoded regulation elevated monocistronic spoVG expression, reduced biofilm formation and cell wall peptidoglycan thickness, and increased sensitivity to cell wall-targeting antimicrobials in clinical vancomycin-intermediate S. aureus, consistent with phenotypes observed in an independent SpoVG overexpression strain. These findings uncover a previously undescribed mode of cis-regulatory control within a polycistronic operon and establish regulatory mRNA-mRNA interactions as a mechanism for sub-operonic gene regulation.
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BibTeX
@misc{lynch2026cisencoded,
title = {{A cis-encoded RNA interaction controls sub-operonic spoVG expression in Staphylococcus aureus}},
author = {R. Lynch and M. Pettersson and P. M. L. Coulon and J. M. Biazik and J. J. Tree and D. G. Mediati},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.64898/2026.09.18.752551},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.18.752551v1},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - A cis-encoded RNA interaction controls sub-operonic spoVG expression in Staphylococcus aureus
AU - R. Lynch
AU - M. Pettersson
AU - P. M. L. Coulon
AU - J. M. Biazik
AU - J. J. Tree
AU - D. G. Mediati
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/18
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.09.18.752551
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.18.752551v1
AB - Bacterial operons enable co-transcription of multiple genes, yet post-transcriptional mechanisms permitting differential regulation of individual genes within a polycistronic transcript remains incompletely understood. We demonstrate that a cis-encoded RNA-RNA interaction within the bicistronic yabJ-spoVG transcript forms an RNase III substrate that represses the transcription factor SpoVG in Staphylococcus aureus. Disruption of the cis-encoded regulation elevated monocistronic spoVG expression, reduced biofilm formation and cell wall peptidoglycan thickness, and increased sensitivity to cell wall-targeting antimicrobials in clinical vancomycin-intermediate S. aureus, consistent with phenotypes observed in an independent SpoVG overexpression strain. These findings uncover a previously undescribed mode of cis-regulatory control within a polycistronic operon and establish regulatory mRNA-mRNA interactions as a mechanism for sub-operonic gene regulation.
ER -