| Method |
To investigate the degradosome's proposed role as an RNA decay machine, researchers used DNA microarrays to globally assess alterations in the steady-state abundance and decay of 4,289 E. coli mRNAs at single-gene resolution in bacteria carrying mutations in the degradosome constituents RNase E, polynucleotide phosphorylase, RhlB helicase, and enolase.Generation times were determined for each mutant strain and its respective parental strain by following growth at 30°C in M9 media supplemented as described in Materials and Methods by following culture density at OD540. Strain K10 is the parental strain of DF261. N3433 is the parental strain of both SU02 and YHC012. SH3208 is the parental strain of BZ453. Median mRNA half-lives for each strain are expressed in minutes indicated 95% confidence intervals were estimated as described in Materials and Methods. |