Transcriptional analysis of the cyanobacterial gvpABC operon in differentiated cells: occurrence of an antisense RNA complementary to three overlapping transcripts.

Cyanobacteria are photosynthetic prokaryotes able to colonize almost all kinds of ecosystems. Some of them exhibit differentiation processes and/or may establish tight symbiotic associations. Upon changes in the environmental conditions, the cyanobacterium Calothrix 7601 differentiates hormogonia which are short filaments of small cells resulting from cellular division and fragmentation of the long filaments of vegetative cells. In Calothrix, hormogonia are characterized by their gliding motility and by a massive production of gas vesicles which confer buoyancy. At least four genes are involved in the formation of gas vesicles, three of which are organized in one operon (gvpABC). Four different RNA species, only present after induction of hormogonia differentiation, result from transcription of this operon. Mapping of the 5' and 3' ends of these transcripts demonstrates the presence of gvpA, gvpAB and gvpABC transcripts, all three having the same 5' end. Each of the three transcripts terminates a few bases downstream from stem-and-loop structures. Most interestingly, the fourth transcript is an antisense RNA starting from the 3' end of the gvpB gene and ending within the gvpA gene. This antisense RNA can thus form an homologous duplex with the three other transcripts, thereby being able to impair translation and/or modify mRNA stability.