RNase and sRNA activity in Brucella abortus

Isogenic deletion and truncation of specific genes encoding RNases in Brucella abortus were analyzed for changes in gene expression. The main goal of this work is to determine the mRNAs that exhibit dysregulation when small regulatory RNAs (i.e., Bsr8) or RNases (i.e., RNaseE and RNaseJ) are invactivated in Brucella abortus. Small regulatory RNAs often control gene expression by binding directly to mRNAs to block translation or induce their degradation, and RNA from a deletion of one sRNA gene, bsr8, was analyzed to uncover the mRNAs that may be controlled by BsrB. RNases are enzymes that cleave RNAs during processing, turnover, and regulatory events, and RNaseE and RNaseJ appear to be important for B. abortus virulence. Therefore, to determine the mRNAs potentially targetd by these RNases, RNA from a strain harboring a RNaseE truncation and a strain carrying a deletion of rnaseJ were analyzed. In the end, the objective of this study was to gain insight into the regulatory patterns of specific B. abortus sRNAs and RNases. Isogenic deletion and truncation of specific genes encoding RNases in Brucella abortus were analyzed for changes in gene expression. Biological triplicate samples were used for each strain.