Nature Research, Nature Communications, 1(13), 2022
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-30553-8
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AbstractRNA-binding proteins play key roles in controlling gene expression in many organisms, but relatively few have been identified and characterised in detail in Gram-positive bacteria. Here, we globally analyse RNA-binding proteins in methicillin-resistantStaphylococcus aureus(MRSA) using two complementary biochemical approaches. We identify hundreds of putative RNA-binding proteins, many containing unconventional RNA-binding domains such as Rossmann-fold domains. Remarkably, more than half of the proteins containing helix-turn-helix (HTH) domains, which are frequently found in prokaryotic transcription factors, bind RNA in vivo. In particular, the CcpA transcription factor, a master regulator of carbon metabolism, uses its HTH domain to bind hundreds of RNAs near intrinsic transcription terminators in vivo. We propose that CcpA, besides acting as a transcription factor, post-transcriptionally regulates the stability of many RNAs.