OxyS RNA

OxyS RNA
Predicted secondary structure and sequence conservation of OxyS
Identifiers
Symbol	OxyS
Rfam	RF00035
Other data
RNA type	Gene; sRNA
Domain(s)	Bacteria
SO	0000384

OxyS RNA is a small non-coding RNA which is induced in response to oxidative stress in Escherichia coli. This RNA acts as a global regulator to activate or repress the expression of as many as 40 genes, by an antisense mechanism, including the fhlA-encoded transcriptional activator and the rpoS-encoded sigma(s) subunit of RNA polymerase. OxyS is bound by the Hfq protein, that increases the OxyS RNA interaction with its target messages. Binding to Hfq alters the conformation of OxyS. The 109 nucleotide RNA is thought to be composed of three stem-loops.

A number of additional targets were recently predicted and verified using microarray analysis. These are listed below: