Generation of Functional-RNA Arrays by In Vitro Transcription and In Situ RNA Capture for the Detection of RNA-RNA Interactions.

RNA performs a wide variety of vital cellular functions. These functions typically require interactions with other biological macromolecules, often as part of an intricate communication network. High-throughput techniques capable of analyzing RNA-based interactions are therefore essential.

Identification of small RNAs associated with RNA chaperone Hfq reveals a new stress response regulator in .

The RNA chaperone Hfq promotes the association of small RNAs (sRNAs) with cognate mRNAs, controlling the expression of bacterial phenotype. mutants strains are attenuated for virulence in pigs, impaired in the ability to form biofilms, and more susceptible to stress, but knowledge of the extent of sRNA involvement is limited. Here, using strain MIDG2331 (serovar 8), 14 sRNAs were identified by co-immunoprecipitation with Hfq and the expression of eight, identified as -acting sRNAs, were confirmed by Northern blotting.

Relating protein functional diversity to cell type number identifies genes that determine dynamic aspects of chromatin organisation as potential contributors to organismal complexity.

Organismal complexity broadly relates to the number of different cell types within an organism and generally increases across a phylogeny. Whilst gene expression will underpin organismal complexity, it has long been clear that a simple count of gene number is not a sufficient explanation. In this paper, we use open-access information from the Ensembl databases to quantify the functional diversity of human genes that are broadly involved in transcription.