GadY RNA is a non-coding RNA

Non-coding RNA

A non-coding RNA is a functional RNA molecule that is not translated into a protein. Less-frequently used synonyms are non-protein-coding RNA , non-messenger RNA and functional RNA . The term small RNA is often used for short bacterial ncRNAs...

. The GadY gene

Gene

A gene is a molecular unit of heredity of a living organism. It is a name given to some stretches of DNA and RNA that code for a type of protein or for an RNA chain that has a function in the organism. Living beings depend on genes, as they specify all proteins and functional RNA chains...

 is located on between and on the opposite strand to the GadX and GadW genes. GadY can form base pair

Base pair

In molecular biology and genetics, the linking between two nitrogenous bases on opposite complementary DNA or certain types of RNA strands that are connected via hydrogen bonds is called a base pair...

s with the 3' UTR of its target mRNA gadX, this pairing is thought to confer increased stability to the transcript, allowing accumulation of gadX (a transcriptional regulator of the acid response) and therefore increased expression of downstream acid resistance genes. The GadY gene produces three overlapping transcripts that differ in length. The long form is 105 nucleotide

Nucleotide

Nucleotides are molecules that, when joined together, make up the structural units of RNA and DNA. In addition, nucleotides participate in cellular signaling , and are incorporated into important cofactors of enzymatic reactions...

s in length and two processed versions are 59 and 90 nucleotides in length. It has been shown that all three forms of GadY bind to the Hfq protein

Hfq protein

The Hfq protein encoded by the hfq gene was discovered in 1968 as an Escherichia. coli host factor that was essential for replication of the bacteriophage Qβ. It is now clear that Hfq is an abundant bacterial RNA binding protein which has many important physiological roles. Usually mediated by...

.