ReviewNature reviews. Microbiology2012
Bacterial RNA thermometers: molecular zippers and switches.
Review in Nature reviews. Microbiology, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 234 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
234 citing papers in PubMed, 419 citations in OpenAlex.
- In silico unwinding ofRNA biology · 2026Article
- RNA thermometers as temperature-dependent tools for enhanced recombinant protein production in precision fermentation.Microbial cell factories · 2026Article
- Long-range mRNA folding shapes expression and sequence of bacterial genes.Molecular cell · 2026Article
- A Function-Centric Framework for Mitochondrial Quality Control.Biomolecules · 2026Review
- Article
- RNA regulation in plants.Science China. Life sciences · 2026Review
- RATEX: A Scalable RNA-Based Platform for Logical and Multi-Layered Cellular Programming.Angewandte Chemie (International ed. in English) · 2026Article
- Cryptic DNA sequences encode a temperature sensor to regulate mitochondrial suicide during neuronal differentiation.Cell communication and signaling : CCS · 2026Article
- Mechanisms of thermoregulation inJournal of bacteriology · 2026Review
- Controlling heterologous protein synthesis through a plant RNA ThermoSwitch.Plant methods · 2026Article
- An RNA structural switch controlling bacterial toxin translation.Nucleic acids research · 2026Article
- Optimized tRNA structure-seq reveals robust tRNA secondary structures inbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Multilayered regulation by RNA thermometers enables precise control of Cas9 expression in E. coli.Nucleic acids research · 2026Article
- From environmental signals to adaptive phenotypes: signal-responsive regulation and network logic of bacterial small RNAs.FEMS microbiology reviews · 2026Review
- Rumen-host crosstalk: an amplifier of systemic pathology in heat-stressed ruminants.Frontiers in microbiology · 2026Review
- Small-molecule control of CAR T cells.Nature reviews. Chemistry · 2025Review
- Long-range mRNA folding shapes expression and sequence of bacterial genes.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- A versatile plug and play bacterial chassis based on a fast-growing Mycoplasma species.Nucleic acids research · 2025Article
- Generative AI for computational chemistry: A roadmap to predicting emergent phenomena.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Stabilizing a mammalian RNA thermometer confers neuroprotection in subarachnoid hemorrhage.Nature communications · 2025Article
174 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Bacteria use complex strategies to coordinate temperature-dependent gene expression. Many genes encoding heat shock proteins and virulence factors are regulated by temperature-sensing RNA sequences, known as RNA thermometers (RNATs), in their mRNAs. For these genes, the 5' untranslated region of the mRNA folds into a structure that blocks ribosome access at low temperatures. Increasing the temperature gradually shifts the equilibrium between the closed and open conformations towards the open structure in a zipper-like manner, thereby increasing the efficiency of translation initiation. Here, we review the known molecular principles of RNAT action and the hierarchical RNAT cascade in Escherichia coli. We also discuss RNA-based thermosensors located upstream of cold shock and other genes, translation of which preferentially occurs at low temperatures and which thus operate through a different, more switch-like mechanism. Finally, we consider the potential biotechnological applications of natural and synthetic RNATs.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.