# Generation and characterization of a small RNA mutant library in Neisseria gonorrhea

> **NIH NIH R03** · OHIO UNIVERSITY ATHENS · 2024 · $75,500

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Gonorrhea, caused by the Gram-negative bacteria Neisseria gonorrhoeae (NGO), is one of the most prevalent
sexually transmitted infections worldwide. In 2013 and 2019 the CDC’s antibiotic resistance threats reports,
designated a threat level of urgent to NGO, in part due to the alarming rise in the number of highly antibiotic
resistant strains. Resistance to last line antibiotics and treatment failure is now common and there is a critic
need to explore new approaches to develop therapeutic interventions. Small regulatory RNAs (herein called
sRNAs) are an important class of regulatory molecules in bacterial cells. sRNAs control numerous cellular
processes, and for many bacterial pathogens, sRNAs play a critical role during transmission and infection.
Despite their importance sRNAs are extremely understudied (to date, in NGO only 7 sRNA have been studied
in detail). One major impediment to sRNA study is the absence of sRNA genes from annotated genome
reference files. As a consequence, techniques that rely on genome annotation files (such as RNAseq) omit
sRNAs. To address this oversight, and to facilitate improved study of sRNAs in NGO, we have constructed a
genome annotation file containing annotations for 559 previously reported potential sRNAs in NGO strain
FA1090. Using this file, we have reanalyzed publicly available RNAseq data sets and generated a list of 88
prioritized sRNAs which we consider have high potential to be bona fide trans acting sRNAs in NGO. In this
study we propose to construct the first NGO sRNA mutant library in which we generate 88 sRNA mutants by
knocking out 88 previously unstudied sRNA genes. We will go on to phenotypically characterize the newly
created sRNA mutant library to elucidate role(s) for these molecules.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 11039008
- **Project number:** 1R03AI188450-01
- **Recipient organization:** OHIO UNIVERSITY ATHENS
- **Principal Investigator:** Ronan Carroll
- **Activity code:** R03 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $75,500
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-09-26 → 2026-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11039008

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 11039008, Generation and characterization of a small RNA mutant library in Neisseria gonorrhea (1R03AI188450-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/11039008. Licensed CC0.

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