A RNomics-based strategy identifies regulatory small RNAs in Burkholderia cepacia complex

Regulatory small non-coding RNAs (sRNAs) are know to be involved in bacterial virulence, most often exerting its function in a Hfq-dependent fashion. Burkholderia cepacia complex (Bcc) bacteria are important human opportunistic pathogens, that possess exceptionally large and complex genomes (∼7000 genes) comprising roughly 8 Mb. Within their genomes, it has been predicted in silico 213 sRNAs. Bcc are unique among human pathogens by encoding two distinct and functional Hfq-like proteins. In this work, we describe a strategy based on co-immunoprecipitation of sRNAs with Hfq-like proteins, the cloning and identification of the sRNAs, showing the wide array of possibilities that this RNomics approach endows the researcher for sRNA discovery.