MicF RNA Binds to the 5' End of OmpF MRNA and to a Protein from Escherichia Coli

micF RNA regulates the levels of outer membrane protein F (OmpF) in Escherichia coli in response to temperature increase and other stress conditions by decreasing the levels of ompF mRNA (Andersen et al., 1989). A 93-nucleotide micF RNA was synthesized in vitro directly from polymerase chain reaction generated DNA which was designed to contain a functional T7 RNA polymerase promoter upstream of the micF RNA gene and an appropriate restriction site for transcription termination. A transcript (150 nucleotides) containing the ribosomal binding domain of ompF mRNA messenger was synthesized in vitro from the ompF gene cloned into a T7 expression vector. A stable duplex was formed between micF RNA and the 150-nucleotide 5' transcript of ompF mRNA after incubation at 37 degrees C in a physiological buffer. The melting curve of the duplex formed by micF RNA and 150-nucleotide transcript revealed a Tm of 56 degrees C and a delta Tm that spans about 20 degrees C; both are consistent with the proposed structure for the micF/ompF duplex. In addition, as determined by competition studies and UV cross-linking/label-transfer analyses, an E. coli protein was found to bind specifically to micF RNA. The protein also bound weakly to the 150-nucleotide ompF transcript. The data are the first to demonstrate the complex between micF RNA and the 5' end of ompF mRNA and suggest that in vivo a micF ribonucleoprotein (RNP) particle may participate in the destabilization ompF mRNA during thermoregulation of OmpF porin.