ANNOUNCEMENTS
RNA was initially considered to be important as an information carrying intermediate between DNA and the proteins, and as transfer RNA and ribosomal RNA involved in protein synthesis, but not to have any active/regulatory function. This view has changed dramatically in the last couple of decades. Today, we know that RNAs can carry out many functions in the cell, such as catalysis and gene regulation. In eukaryotes, processes such as gene silencing and developmental regulation, all largely depend on such regulatory RNAs. Bacterial regulatory RNAs were identified prior to their eukaryotic counterparts in Escherichia coli. This opened up a whole new field; that of small RNAs (sRNAs) in bacteria. Most sRNAs base pair to the mRNAs to affect its translation and/or stability. sRNAs have been established as important regulators of gene expression in wide range of bacteria and it appears that the majority of the sRNAs are stress-related, helping bacteria to respond to changes in the environment.
Different studies have been carried out to discover small RNAs in plant associated bacteria (PAB) like Sinorhizobium meliloti, Bacillus subtilis, Bradyrhizobium japonicum, Azotobacter vinelandii and play essential roles under abiotic stress conditions like iron limitation, oxidative and salt stress, heat and cold shock, and accumulation of glucose-phosphate.
Work has been undertaken to explore the presence of sRNAs in selected PAB, Azospirillum brasilense Sp245 and the differential expression of the identified sRNAs was observed in abiotic stress. Their role in plant growth promotion has also been explored
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