RNA modifications are involved in numerous biological processes and are present in all RNA classes. These modifications can be constitutive or modulated in response to adaptive processes. RNA modifications play multiple functions since they can impact RNA base-pairings, recognition by proteins, decoding, as well as RNA structure and stability. However, their roles in stress, environmental adaptation and during infections caused by pathogenic bacteria have just started to be appreciated. With the development of modern technologies in mass spectrometry and deep sequencing, recent examples of modifications regulating host-pathogen interactions have been demonstrated. They show how RNA modifications can regulate immune responses, antibiotic resistance, expression of virulence genes, and bacterial persistence.
The team of P. Romby has recently published a review on Genes illustrating some of the recent findings in this field, and highlighting the strategies used to characterize RNA modifications, and their potential for new therapeutic applications. The article titled “RNA Modifications in Pathogenic Bacteria : Impact on Host Adaptation and Virulence” has involved the participation of three master students and one PhD student of the EUR IMCBio.
Contact: S. Marzi