[1] In Listeria monocytogenes, virulence genes are maximally expressed at 37 °C (human body temperature) but are almost silent at 30 °C.

[2] The genes are controlled by PrfA, a transcriptional activator whose expression is thermoregulated.

[3] It has been shown that the untranslated mRNA (UTR) preceding prfA, forms a secondary structure, which masks the ribosome binding region.

[1] It is thought that at 37 °C, the hairpin structure 'melts' and the SD sequence is unmasked.

[1] This molecular or cell biology article is a stub.