Autoregulation of AbsB (RNase III) expression in Streptomyces coelicolor by endoribonucleolytic cleavage of absB operon transcripts

The Streptomyces coelicolor absB gene encodes an RNase III family endoribonuclease and is normally essential for antibiotic biosynthesis. Here we report that AbsB controls its own expression by sequentially and site specifically cleaving stem-loop segments of its polycistronic transcript. Our results demonstrate a ribonucleolytic regulatory role for AbsB in vivo.