High levels of antisense transcription from numerous genes in the obligate intracellular bacterium Orientia tsutsugamushi.

High levels of antisense transcription are conserved across eight strains of Orientia tsutsugamushi, with 18% of genes having sense:antisense ratios below 1.

• Why it matters: Understanding antisense transcription in obligate intracellular bacteria like Ot is important because its biological role remains unclear, especially given the organism's highly repetitive genome.
• What they did: The study confirmed high antisense transcription using PCR methods across multiple strains and compared sense and antisense expression between intracellular and extracellular bacteria, indicating regulation.
• The result: Findings suggest antisense transcription in Ot is a regulated process that may influence gene activity during infection, providing insights into gene regulation in bacteria with reduced, repetitive genomes.