Identification of essential genes in Staphylococcus aureus using inducible antisense RNA.

Publisher Summary This chapter describes the antisense RNA can effectively down-regulate gene expression in various bacterial systems. Antisense technology is an effective approach to down-regulate expression of specific genes. It is widely used to interfere with eukaryotic gene expression through injection of synthetic oligonucleotides complementary to mRNA and by the synthesis of antisense RNA from DNA cloned in an antisense orientation. However, the antisense method is not use routinely to inhibit gene expression in bacteria, even though there is evidence that antisense regulation occurs naturally in bacteria during plasmid, phage, and chromosomal replication. Combining an antisense strategy with a regulated expression system is useful in identifying and characterizing essential genes critical to bacterial growth in vitro and in vivo . Moreover, such a strategy offers a unique approach to the study of bacterial pathogenesis and definition of virulence factors. Regulated antisense RNA may use to decrease the expression of known genes during different stages of infection.