Repetitive extragenic palindromic (REP) sequences are highly structured elements found downstream of ∼500 genes in Escherichia coli that result in extensive stem-loop structures in their mRNAs. However, their physiological role has remained elusive. Here, we show that REP sequences can downregulate translation, but only if they are within 15 nt of a termination codon; a spacing of 16 nt has no effect, suggesting that the REP element acts to stall ribosome movement. Ribosome stalling leads to cleavage of the mRNA and induction of the trans-translation process. Using nrdAB as a model, we find that its regulation can be partially reversed by overexpression of RNA helicases and can be fully overcome upon UV stress, emphasizing the importance of this regulatory process. Since 50% of REP-associated genes have these elements within the critical 15 nt, these findings identify a regulatory mechanism with the potential to affect translation from a large number of genes.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 4. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 27 July 2021.
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#11,297,715
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#6,306
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#102,323
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Outputs of similar age from Molecular Cell
#61
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Altmetric has tracked 33,351,181 research outputs across all sources so far. This one has received more attention than most of these and is in the 65th percentile.
So far Altmetric has tracked 8,644 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 19.4. This one is in the 26th percentile – i.e., 26% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
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We're also able to compare this research output to 88 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one is in the 29th percentile – i.e., 29% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
