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Post‐transcriptional regulation by distal Shine‐Dalgarno sequences in the grpE‐dnaK intergenic region of Streptococcus mutans

A unique 373 bp region (igr66) between grpE and dnaK of Streptococcus mutans lacks a promoter but is required for optimal production of DnaK. Northern blotting using probes specific to hrcA, igr66 or dnaK revealed multiple transcripts produced from the dnaK operon and 5′‐RACE mapped 5′ termini of multiple dnaK transcripts within igr66. One product mapped to a predicted 5′‐SL (stem‐loop) and two others mapped just 5′ to Shine‐Dalgarno (SD)‐like sequences located immediately upstream to dnaK and to a predicted SL 120 bp upstream of the dnaK start codon (3′‐SL). A collection of cat reporter‐gene strains containing mutant derivatives of igr66 were engineered. Chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) activity varied greatly between strains, but there were no correlative changes in cat mRNA levels. Interestingly, mutations introduced into the SD‐like sequences 5′ to the 3′‐SL resulted in an 83–98% decrease in CAT activity. Markerless point mutations introduced upstream of dnaK in the SD‐like sequences impaired growth at elevated temperatures and resulted in up to a 40% decrease in DnaK protein after heat shock. Collectively, these results indicate processing within igr66 enhances translation in a temperature dependent manner via non‐canonical ribosome binding sites positioned > 120 bp upstream of dnaK.