Promoter region of the Escherichia coli o7-specific lipopolysaccharide gene cluster: structural and functional characterization of an upstream untranslated mRNA sequence

A study was conducted to characterize the structural and functional roles of a promoter region of the Escherichia coli o7-specific lipopolysaccharide gene cluster. The Escherichia coli strain was cultured in a Luria broth which was supplemented by ampicillin, kanamycin and tetracycline. Results revealed the existence of an untranslated leader messenger RNA segment of 173 bp whose structure may fold into a series of complex stem-loop structures.