Sodium Fluoride Exposure Leads to ATP Depletion and Altered RNA Decay in Escherichia coli under Anaerobic Conditions

Abstract

gene expression under anaerobic conditions. We reveal key gene clusters associated with cellular responses to fluoride and define its ATP-dependent stabilizing effects on transcripts containing repetitive extragenic palindromic sequences. We demonstrate the mechanisms controlling the RNA stability of these REP-containing mRNAs. Thus, fluoride can affect gene expression posttranscriptionally by stabilizing structured RNAs.