FIG 7.

Effect of P. aeruginosa Hfq on RNA annealing kinetics. (A) 5 nM ³²P-antR RNA, 30 nM PrrF1 sRNA, and 100 nM Hfq were mixed rapidly in TNK buffer (10 mM Tris-HCl, pH 7.5, 50 mM NaCl, 50 mM KCl) and loaded on 6% native PAGE while running continuously. (B) Formation of antR RNA-PrrF1 binary [(−) Hfq] or the sum of antR RNA-PrrF1 and antR RNA-PrrF1-Hfq complexes (100 and 200 nM Hfq) over time were fit to a biexponential rate equation (equation 5). The controls were incubated for an hour to allow the reactions to reach equilibrium. The standard deviation among four technical replicates of each reaction was <10%.