Riboswitches

Riboswitches are highly conserved sequences in the untranslated regions (UTR) of bacterial mRNAs. Upon binding to their metabolite with high specificity and selectivity they change their three-dimensional structure and are thus promising candidates for understanding gene regulation at the RNA level. Our research focuses on two riboswitches, the Moco and the btuB riboswitch.

The latter is a B₁₂ specific RNA found among other bacteria, especially in E. coli. Upon binding of B₁₂, a conformational switch of the btuB aptamer occurs, thus inhibiting the expression of the cellular B₁₂ transporter (Figure right). We intend to use smFRET to characterize the conformational states and the folding kinetics of the aptamer region. We co-developed a method for fluorescence site-specific internal labeling of the btuB riboswitch. Preliminary folding studies on the bulk level ensure for best in vitro folding conditions. In-line probing experiments proved the switching behaviour.

Pallavi K. Choudhary, Sofia Gallo, Roland K. O. Sigel*, Front. Chem. 2017, 5/10, 1-11.
doi:10.3389/fchem.2017.00010

Meng Zhao, Fabio D. Steffen, Richard Börner, Roland K. O. Sigel*, Eva Freisinger*, Nucleic Acids Res., 2017, published online.
doi:10.1093/nar/gkx1100

Pallavi K. Choudhary, Roland K. O. Sigel*, RNA, 2014, 20, 36-45.
doi:10.1261/rna.039909.113

Sofia Gallo, Stefan Mundwiler, Roger Alberto, Roland K. O. Sigel*, Chem. Commun., 2011, 47, 403-405.
doi:10.1039/c0cc02447c

Sofia Gallo, Michael Oberhuber, Roland K. O. Sigel*, Bernhard Kräutler*, ChemBioChem, 2008, 9, 1408-1414.
doi:10.1002/cbic.200800099