Lig RNA thermometer

Lig RNA thermometer is a "cis"-acting non-coding RNA element that controls "ligA" and "ligB" gene expression in "Leptospira interrogans" in response to temperature change. The lipoproteins LigA and LigB stimulate adhesion of the element and then hosting proteins. The RNA that composes of 175-nucleotide 5'UTR and the first six "lig" codons (identical in "ligA" and "ligB") folds into two distinct-stem loop structures. "Lig" expression is limited by these double-stranded RNA structures because they occludes the ribosome-binding site. At higher temperatures, the ribosome binding site is exposed to promote translation initiation.