FIG 2.

EARs are less accessible than TIRs across the C. crescentus transcriptome. (A) mRNA accessibility can be estimated by the calculation of ΔG_unfold. The predicted mRNA minimum free energy (ΔG_mRNA) is represented on the left. The orange translation initiation region indicates a ribosome footprint surrounding the start codon (pink). The image on the right represents the mRNA upon initiation (ΔG_init), and the orange initiation region is unfolded by the ribosome. The ΔG_unfold represents the amount of energy required to unfold the translation initiation region of the mRNA. (B) Box and whisker plot showing the distribution of ΔG_unfold across all mapped TIRs and EARs in the C. crescentus transcriptome (20). The pink box and whiskers represent TIRs, whereas orange represents in-frame EARs and red represents out-of-frame EARs. *** indicates a P value of ≤0.001 for a two-tailed t test with unequal variances. (C) A graphical representation showing that TIRs are generally more accessible, thereby facilitating initiation, whereas EARs are less accessible, thereby blocking ribosome access.