Trans-acting small regulatory RNAs (sRNAs) are key players in the regulation of gene expression in bacteria. There are hundreds of different sRNAs in a typical bacterium, which in contrast to eukaryotic microRNAs are more heterogeneous in length, sequence composition, and secondary structure. The vast majority of sRNAs function post-transcriptionally by binding to other RNAs (mRNAs, sRNAs) through rather short regions of imperfect sequence complementarity. Besides, every single sRNA may interact with dozens of different target RNAs and impact gene expression either negatively or positively. These facts contributed to the view that the entirety of the regulatory targets of a given sRNA, its targetome, is challenging to identify. However, recent developments show that a more comprehensive sRNAs targetome can be achieved through the combination of experimental and computational approaches. Here, we give a short introduction into these methods followed by a description of two sRNAs, RyhB, and RsaA, to illustrate the particular strengths and weaknesses of these approaches in more details. RyhB is an sRNA involved in iron homeostasis in Enterobacteriaceae, while RsaA is a modulator of virulence in Staphylococcus aureus. Using such a combined strategy, a better appreciation of the sRNA-dependent regulatory networks is now attainable.

中文翻译：

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合作的力量：细菌sRNA功能表征的实验和计算方法。

反式小调节RNA（sRNA）是调节细菌基因表达的关键因素。在典型细菌中，有数百种不同的sRNA，与真核microRNA相比，其长度，序列组成和二级结构更具异质性。绝大多数sRNA通过不完整的序列互补性的相当短的区域与其他RNA（mRNA，sRNA）结合而在转录后起作用。此外，每一个sRNA都可能与数十种不同的靶RNA相互作用，从而对基因表达产生负面或正面影响。这些事实促成了这样的观点，即给定的sRNA的整个调控靶标（即其靶基因组）难以鉴定。然而，最近的发展表明，可以通过结合实验和计算方法来实现更全面的sRNA靶基因组。在这里，我们简要介绍这些方法，然后介绍两种sRNA RyhB和RsaA，以更详细地说明这些方法的优点和缺点。RyhB是一种参与肠杆菌科细菌铁稳态的sRNA，而RsaA是金黄色葡萄球菌中毒力的调节剂。使用这种组合策略，现在可以更好地了解sRNA依赖性调控网络。RyhB是一种参与肠杆菌科细菌铁稳态的sRNA，而RsaA是金黄色葡萄球菌中毒力的调节剂。使用这种组合策略，现在可以更好地了解sRNA依赖性调控网络。RyhB是一种参与肠杆菌科细菌铁稳态的sRNA，而RsaA是金黄色葡萄球菌中毒力的调节剂。使用这种组合策略，现在可以获得对sRNA依赖的调控网络的更好理解。