SraH RNA

SraH is a is a small non-coding RNA (ncRNA). It is the functional product of a gene which is not translated into protein.

This non-coding RNA was discovered in the bacteria Escherichia coli during a large scale computational screen for transcription signals and genomic features of known small RNA-encoding genes. During this screen 14 novel ncRNA genes were identified.

The expression of SraH was experimentally confirmed by Northern blotting. Its expression is highly abundant in stationary growth phase but low levels of expression can still be detected in exponentially growing cells. The function of SraH is not known but it is likely to act as an antisense regulator of some bacterial genes.