The role of 6C RNA in gene regulation in mycobacteria

Abstract: The Actinomycetes, to which the Mycobacterium genus belongs contains many pathogens, such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which can cause tuberculosis, so it has become a focus area in modern molecular biology research. Mycobacteria contain many proteins and regulatory factors, including tRNA, ncRNA and sRNA, which can help bacteria better adapt to the environment. Among them, 6C RNA is a stem-loop non-coding RNA, widely found in mycobacteria. According to previous studies, it may be involved in the rapid growth of mycobacteria. We aimed to clone the 6C RNA promoter region into the pIGn plasmid carrying lacZ reporter gene and transform the construct into Mycobacterium marinum, a close relative of M. tuberculosis. Then we analyzed the β-galactosidase activity of the transformed strain under different stress conditions to study the change of 6C RNA expression. At the same time, we recorded the growth curve and analyze expression changes of 6C RNA in the exponential growth phase and stationary phase of the transformed strain. In addition, we tried to clone the 6C RNA overexpression vector and to study the changes of gene expression at different growth stages, which will help us to better understand the role of 6C RNA in M. marinum.