Translational regulation of the stationary phase sigma factor RpoS is mediated by the formation of a double-stranded RNA stem-loop structure in the upstream region of the rpoS messenger RNA, occluding the translation initiation site. Clones carrying rprA (RpoS regulator RNA) increased the translation of RpoS. The rprA gene encodes a 106 nucleotide regulatory RNA. As with DsrA Rfam:RF00014, RprA is predicted to form three stem-loops. Thus, at least two small RNAs, DsrA and RprA, participate in the positive regulation of RpoS translation. Unlike DsrA, RprA does not have an extensive region of complementarity to the RpoS leader, leaving its mechanism of action unclear. RprA is non-essential.