Binding of 30S Ribosome Induces Single-stranded Conformation Within and Downstream of the Expression Platform in a Translational Riboswitch.

Translational riboswitches are bacterial gene regulatory elements found in the 5'-untranslated region of mRNAs. They operate through a conformational refolding reaction that is triggered by a concentration change of a modulating small molecular ligand. The translation initiation region (TIR) is either released from or incorporated into base pairing interactions through the conformational switch.