Identification and expression of small non-coding RNA, L10-Leader, in different growth phases of Streptococcus mutans

Nucleic Acid Ther. 2012 Jun;22(3):177-86. doi: 10.1089/nat.2011.0339. Epub 2012 Apr 2.

Abstract

Streptococcus mutans is one of the major cariogenic bacteria in the oral environment. Small non-coding RNAs (sRNAs) play important roles in the regulation of bacterial growth, stress tolerance, and virulence. In this study, we experimentally verified the existence of sRNA, L10-Leader, in S. mutans for the first time. Our results show that the expression level of L10-Leader was growth-phase dependent in S. mutans and varied among different clinical strains of S. mutans. The level of L10-Leader in S. mutans UA159 was closely related to the pH value, but not to the concentrations of glucose and sucrose in culture medium. We predicted target mRNAs of L10-Leader bioinformatically and found that some of these mRNAs were related to growth and stress response. Five predicted mRNA targets were selected and detected by quantitative reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), and we found that the expression levels of these mRNAs were closely related to the level of L10-Leader at different growth phases of the bacteria. Our results indicate that L10-Leader may play an important role in the regulation of responses in S. mutans, especially during its growth phase and acid adaption response.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Base Sequence
  • Culture Media
  • DNA Primers
  • Genes, Bacterial
  • RNA, Messenger / genetics
  • RNA, Untranslated / genetics*
  • Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Streptococcus mutans / genetics*
  • Streptococcus mutans / growth & development

Substances

  • Culture Media
  • DNA Primers
  • RNA, Messenger
  • RNA, Untranslated