Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology, Vol 4, No 1 (2012)

Small RNAs of Pathogenic Bacteria: Not Small Enough to be Overlooked for Therapeutics

Abstract

The discovery of non-coding small RNA and miRNA has increased the understanding of gene regulation in all forms of life. Even though majority of research in the non-coding RNA field is devoted towards higher life forms, from prokaryotic point of view; bacteria also possess non-coding RNAs which are addressed as small RNA or sRNA. sRNA and miRNA may differ in biogenesis but the functional resemblance is unequivocal which well accords with the complexity of genome in which they reside. sRNAs have now been discovered in several prokaryotic genomes, many of which belong to pathogenic bacteria. Here we review the sRNAs found in pathogenic microorganisms with special attention to the sRNAs which play a role in pathogenicity and thus can be exploited for developing therapeutic approaches for controlling infection.

Keywords: Small RNAs; sRNA; Pathogenic bacteria; Gene regulation; Non-coding RNA; Therapeutic targets.

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