Discovery and characterization of the first non-coding RNA that regulates gene expression, micF RNA: A historical perspective

Core Tip

Core tip: The original discovery and characterization of the first non-coding RNA gene and its transcript was with prokaryotes in the 1980s. At that time the Escherichia coli micF RNA gene was characterized in terms of properties, its promoter region, and activation by environmental stress conditions; and the micF RNA transcript structure as well as the micF RNA/target messenger RNA duplex interaction were elucidated. This occurred over 5 years before the discovery of the first eukaryotic regulatory miRNA, which is not generally recognized. Prokaryotic and eukaryotic non-coding RNAs greatly differ in terms of RNA processing, but the basic principle of an RNA gene locus encoding a regulatory RNA that targets gene expression in trans via RNA/target RNA duplex formation is similar. Thus the concept and discovery of regulatory non-coding RNAs and their functions in messenger RNA inhibition originated with prokaryotes.