Final answer:
Regulation of translation in bacteria can involve riboswitches, which are segments of RNA that influence mRNA structure and binding with metabolites, affecting gene expression. Regulation can be specific to individual proteins or global, encompassing many proteins, and is often a response to environmental changes.
Step-by-step explanation:
Regulation of translation in bacteria involves several mechanisms, including the use of small noncoding RNAs in riboswitches. These riboswitches, located within the 5' end of certain prokaryotic mRNA molecules, can influence the folding of the mRNA into specific stem-loop structures.
These structures are then able to bind to small intracellular metabolites, which determine the direction of further processing, such as the completion of mRNA synthesis and subsequent protein synthesis. If a metabolite, such as guanine in the guanine synthesis pathway, is present in excess, it can bind to the stem-loop near the 5' end of an mRNA to prematurely terminate transcription, thus regulating gene expression in response to intracellular conditions.
Moreover, the regulation targets translation initiation and can be specific, affecting the synthesis of individual polypeptides, or global, affecting the synthesis of many proteins simultaneously. Factors like alarmones, RNA stability, and changes in RNA polymerase sigma factors enable bacteria to adapt to environmental conditions rapidly by controlling regulon transcription and translation.