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Abstract
The ubiquitous RNA-binding protein, Hfq, has been shown to be required for the fitness
and virulence of an increasing number of bacterial pathogens. Mutants lacking Hfq
are often sensitive to host defense mechanisms and highly attenuated in animal models,
albeit there is considerable variation in both severity and extent of phenotypes.
RNomics and deep sequencing (RNA-seq) approaches discovered the small RNA and mRNA
targets of Hfq, and indicated that this protein might impact on the expression of
up to 20% of all genes in some organisms, including genes of type 3 secretion systems.
Hfq also facilitates post-transcriptional cross-talk between the core and variable
genome regions of bacterial pathogens, and might help integrate horizontally acquired
virulence genes into existing regulatory networks.
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