# Development of two compatible plasmids to assess sRNA-mediated post-transcriptional regulation in Acinetobacter baumannii

## TL;DR

Researchers developed two plasmids to study RNA-based gene regulation in Acinetobacter baumannii, a drug-resistant bacteria, enabling faster discovery of sRNA functions.

## Contribution

The creation of two compatible plasmids for studying sRNA-mediated regulation in A. baumannii.

## Key findings

- The plasmids validated the Aar sRNA-carO mRNA interaction.
- A new interaction between sRNA44 and the Bap mRNA was identified.
- The plasmid system is expected to accelerate sRNA research in A. baumannii.

## Abstract

Post-transcriptional regulation can be mediated by small regulatory RNAs (sRNAs) in bacteria, which can act by base-pairing to a target mRNA. The discovery and mechanistic validation of base-pairing sRNAs in multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii has been hampered by the lack of genetic tools to assess RNA–RNA interactions. Here, we created two compatible plasmids for A. baumannii, which addresses this need. The newly designed plasmids validated the known Aar sRNA-carO mRNA and a new interaction of sRNA44 and the mRNA of the biofilm-associated protein Bap. The new plasmid system should accelerate the mechanistic characterization of sRNAs in A. baumannii.