Formation of a membraneless compartment regulates bacterial virulence

Lior Aroeti; Netanel Elbaz; Raya Faigenbaum-Romm; Oren Yakovian; Yael Altuvia; Liron Argaman; Naama Katsowich; Michal Bejerano-Sagie; Miriam Ravins; Hanah Margalit; Sigal Ben-Yehuda; Ilan Rosenshine

doi:10.1038/s41467-025-58829-9

Formation of a membraneless compartment regulates bacterial virulence

Lior Aroeti, Netanel Elbaz, Raya Faigenbaum-Romm, Oren Yakovian, Yael Altuvia, Liron Argaman, Naama Katsowich, Michal Bejerano-Sagie, Miriam Ravins, Hanah Margalit, Sigal Ben-Yehuda, Ilan Rosenshine^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

The RNA-binding protein CsrA regulates the expression of hundreds of genes in several bacterial species, thus controlling virulence and other processes. However, the outcome of the CsrA-mRNA interactions is modulated by competing small RNAs and other factors through mechanisms that are only partially understood. Here, we show that CsrA accumulates in a dynamic membraneless compartment in cells of E. coli and other pathogenic species. In addition to CsrA, the compartment contains components of the RNA-degrading complex (degradosome), regulatory small RNAs, and selected mRNAs. Formation of the compartment is associated with a switch between promoting and repressing virulence gene expression by CsrA. We suggest that similar CsrA switches may be widespread in diverse bacteria.

Original language	English
Article number	3834
Journal	Nature Communications
Volume	16
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58829-9
State	Published - Dec 2025

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© The Author(s) 2025.

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abstract = "The RNA-binding protein CsrA regulates the expression of hundreds of genes in several bacterial species, thus controlling virulence and other processes. However, the outcome of the CsrA-mRNA interactions is modulated by competing small RNAs and other factors through mechanisms that are only partially understood. Here, we show that CsrA accumulates in a dynamic membraneless compartment in cells of E. coli and other pathogenic species. In addition to CsrA, the compartment contains components of the RNA-degrading complex (degradosome), regulatory small RNAs, and selected mRNAs. Formation of the compartment is associated with a switch between promoting and repressing virulence gene expression by CsrA. We suggest that similar CsrA switches may be widespread in diverse bacteria.",

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AU - Elbaz, Netanel

AU - Faigenbaum-Romm, Raya

AU - Yakovian, Oren

AU - Altuvia, Yael

AU - Argaman, Liron

AU - Katsowich, Naama

AU - Bejerano-Sagie, Michal

AU - Ravins, Miriam

AU - Margalit, Hanah

AU - Ben-Yehuda, Sigal

AU - Rosenshine, Ilan

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Formation of a membraneless compartment regulates bacterial virulence

Abstract

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