Functional and evolutionary genomics in Salmonella enterica, role of sRNA in lineage-specific pathogenicity

Salmonella enterica, a pathogen of birds and mammals, is distributed worldwide and has a considerable impact on human and animal health, being the main causal agent of foodborne infections. The different serotypes within the species show important differences in epidemic potential, virulence, and pathogenicity. The genetic bases of these differences are not fully understood, probably because they are the result of a combination of multiple genetic changes that have occurred throughout evolution. Small non-coding RNAs (sRNAs) are a class of gene expression regulators, conserved in bacteria, with less than 500 nucleotides in length. These elements primarily act as antisense RNAs on multiple target messenger RNAs and affect its translation process and/or stability. The development of massive sequencing and genomic strategies have made it possible to appreciate the role of these elements, involved in response to stress, regulation of metabolism, regulation of horizontal transfer, control of envelope composition, virulence in pathogens, among others. Despite its relevant role, few studies have exclusively addressed the comparative study of sRNAs and their network of regulated target mRNAs in S. enterica. This project proposes to study the evolution and variability of sRNAs and target mRNA within and between serotypes.

CSIC I+D-2016, Code: ID-129.

Funding Source: CSIC-UDELAR, Uruguay.

Research Associates: Lucia Yim, Laura Betancor, Alejandro Chabalgoity, Cecilia Quiroga, Claudio Valverde, Francisco Peñagaricano