An Hfq binding sRNA is an sRNA that binds the bacterial RNA binding protein called Hfq. A number of bacterial small RNAs which have been shown to bind to Hfq have been characterised (see list).
Many of these RNAs share a similar structure composed of three stem-loops.[1] Several studies have expanded this list, and experimentally validated a total of 64 Hfq binding sRNA in Salmonella Typhimurium.[2][3][4] A transcriptome wide study on Hfq binding sites in Salmonella mapped 126 Hfq binding sites within sRNAs.[5] Genomic SELEX has been used to show that Hfq binding RNAs are enriched in the sequence motif 5′-AAYAAYAA-3′.[6] Genome-wide study identified 40 candidate Hfq-dependent sRNAs in plant pathogen Erwinia amylovora. 12 of them were confirmed by Northern blot.[7]
^Pfeiffer V, Sittka A, Tomer R, Tedin K, Brinkmann V, Vogel J (December 2007). "A small non-coding RNA of the invasion gene island (SPI-1) represses outer membrane protein synthesis from the Salmonella core genome". Molecular Microbiology. 66 (5): 1174–1191. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2958.2007.05991.x. PMID17971080.