Repression of heat shock gene expression (ROSE) element
ROSE (Repression of heat shock gene expression) is an RNA element in the 5' untranslated region of some heat shock protein mRNAs. It acts as an RNA thermometer: at normal temperatures it folds to block the ribosome binding site, keeping the protein production low; when the temperature rises, the structure changes and translation is allowed, increasing heat tolerance.
A partial ROSE structure has been studied by NMR. Examples include ROSE1 in Bradyrhizobium japonicum and ROSEAT2 in Agrobacterium tumefaciens. They share similar shapes, with ROSE1 having an extra hairpin. All ROSE elements have a bulged G nucleotide opposite the Shine-Dalgarno sequence; without this bulged G the temperature sensitivity is lost.
In Pseudomonas species, ROSE-type thermometers regulate the heat shock protein IpbA, with two hairpins that block translation at low temperatures and permit it at higher temperatures. In Pseudomonas aeruginosa, thermoregulation can also affect virulence factors controlled by quorum sensing, with ROSE-like elements in the 5'UTRs of rhlA and lasI that block translation at lower temperatures.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 03:10 (CET).