Analysis of the effect of h2cR overexpression or silencing on the Hfq2 protein and hfq2 mRNA.

Hfq2 levels were assessed by Western blotting (WB) while the hfq2 mRNA levels were assessed by Northern blotting (NB). Transcription and translation experiments were performed using total RNA obtained from cells grown for the indicated time. The relative intensity of bands was estimated considering as unitary the intensity of the bands for cells of the CJ6, CJ7 or CJ8 strains, grown for 2 h, and using as reference the intensity of the 5S rRNA bands. Western blot analysis was performed using 20 µg of total protein per lane, estimated in a Nanodrop ND1000 spectrophotometer. Results shown are representative of at least 4 independent experiments.