The SgrS sRNA contains a conserved ORF, sgrT. (Upper) The SgrS sequence is shown with the translated product of sgrT below the nucleotide sequence. The putative ribosome binding site for sgrT is indicated by the horizontal bar labeled “RBS.” The start and stop codons for sgrT are boxed. The fifth codon of sgrT was mutated to a “TAA” by a single base pair substitution indicated by the arrow and “A” (described in the text and in Fig. 2). The sequences involved in base pairing with the ptsG mRNA (7) are indicated by the horizontal line (labeled “ptsG mRNA bp”) below the nucleotide sequences. The inverted repeat that forms the terminator at the 3′ end of SgrS is indicated by horizontal arrows below the nucleotide sequence. (Lower) The SgrT amino acid sequences from E. coli K12 (K12) and other bacterial species were aligned with ClustalW. Matches to the consensus are shaded. CFT073, E. coli CFT073; S.e., Salmonella enterica paratyphi ATCC9150; S.ty., Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi Ty2; K.p., Klebsiella pneumoniae KP32; E.ca., Erwinia carotovora atroseptica SCRI1043; A.h., Aeromonas hydrophila ATCC7966.