Effects of polyamines and indole on the expression of ribosome hibernation factors in Escherichia coli at the translational level

Polyamines and indole are small regulatory molecules that are involved in the adaptation to stress in bacteria, including the regulation of gene expression. Genes, the translation of which is under the regulatory effects of polyamines, form the polyamine modulon. Previously, we showed that polyamines upregulated the transcription of genes encoding the ribosome hibernation factors RMF, RaiA, SRA, EttA and RsfS in Escherichia coli . At the same time, indole affected the expression at the transcriptional level of only the raiA and rmf genes. Ribosome hibernation factors reversibly inhibit translation under stress conditions, including exposure to antibiotics, to avoid resource waste and to conserve ribosomes for a quick restoration of their functions when favorable conditions occur. In this work, we have studied the influence of indole on the expression of the raiA and rmf genes at the translational level and regulatory effects of the polyamines putrescine, cadaverine and spermidine on the translation of the rmf , raiA , sra , ettA and rsfS genes. We have analyzed the mRNA primary structures of the studied genes and the predicted mRNA secondary structures obtained by using the RNAfold program for the availability of polyamine modulon features. We have found that all of the studied genes contain specific features typical of the polyamine modulon. Furthermore, to investigate the influence of polyamines and indole on the translation of the studied genes, we have constructed the translational reporter lacZ -fusions by using the pRS552/λRS45 system. According to the results obtained, polyamines upregulated the expression of the rmf , raiA and sra genes, the highest expression of which was observed at the stationary phase, but did not affect the translation of the ettA and rsfS genes, the highest expression of which took place during the exponential phase. The stimulatory effects were polyamine-specific and observed at the stationary phase, when bacteria are under multiple stresses. In addition, the data obtained demonstrated that indole significantly inhibited translation of the raiA and rmf genes, despite the stimulatory effect on their transcription. This can suggest the activity of a posttranscriptional regulatory mechanism of indole on gene expression.