Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27461529›Full record

ArticleNature communications2016

A single-molecule view of transcription reveals convoys of RNA polymerases and multi-scale bursting.

Katjana Tantale, Florian Mueller, Alja Kozulic-Pirher, Annick Lesne, Jean-Marc Victor, Marie-Cécile Robert, Serena Capozi, Racha Chouaib, Volker Bäcker, Julio Mateos-Langerak and 4 more

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 185 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
185citing papers in PubMed
15.1field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

185 citing papers in PubMed, 322 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Review
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Collective RNAP Dynamics Link Transcriptional Strength to Fidelity.The journal of physical chemistry letters · 2026
    Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. What makes genes burst.Trends in cell biology · 2026
    Review
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Review
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Article

125 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

14 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.

Katjana TantaleInstitut de Génétique Moléculaire de Montpellier, CNRS UMR5535, 1919, route de Mende, 34293 Montpellier Cedex 5, France.
Florian MuellerUnité Imagerie et Modélisation, Département Biologie Cellulaire et Infections, Institut Pasteur and CNRS UMR 3691, 28, rue du Docteur Roux, 75015 Paris, France.ORCID 0000-0002-9622-4396
Alja Kozulic-PirherInstitut de Génétique Moléculaire de Montpellier, CNRS UMR5535, 1919, route de Mende, 34293 Montpellier Cedex 5, France.
Annick LesneInstitut de Génétique Moléculaire de Montpellier, CNRS UMR5535, 1919, route de Mende, 34293 Montpellier Cedex 5, France.
Jean-Marc VictorInstitut de Génétique Moléculaire de Montpellier, CNRS UMR5535, 1919, route de Mende, 34293 Montpellier Cedex 5, France.
Marie-Cécile RobertInstitut de Génétique Moléculaire de Montpellier, CNRS UMR5535, 1919, route de Mende, 34293 Montpellier Cedex 5, France.
Serena CapoziInstitut de Génétique Moléculaire de Montpellier, CNRS UMR5535, 1919, route de Mende, 34293 Montpellier Cedex 5, France.
Racha ChouaibInstitut de Génétique Moléculaire de Montpellier, CNRS UMR5535, 1919, route de Mende, 34293 Montpellier Cedex 5, France.
Volker BäckerBioCampus Montpellier, CNRS UMS3426, 141, rue de la Cardonille, 34094 Montpellier Cedex 5, France.
Julio Mateos-LangerakBioCampus Montpellier, CNRS UMS3426, 141, rue de la Cardonille, 34094 Montpellier Cedex 5, France.
Xavier DarzacqEcole Normale Supérieure, CNRS UMR 8197 Paris, France.
Christophe ZimmerUnité Imagerie et Modélisation, Département Biologie Cellulaire et Infections, Institut Pasteur and CNRS UMR 3691, 28, rue du Docteur Roux, 75015 Paris, France.
Eugenia BasyukInstitut de Génétique Moléculaire de Montpellier, CNRS UMR5535, 1919, route de Mende, 34293 Montpellier Cedex 5, France.
Edouard BertrandInstitut de Génétique Moléculaire de Montpellier, CNRS UMR5535, 1919, route de Mende, 34293 Montpellier Cedex 5, France.
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique · FR

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Live-cell imaging has revealed unexpected features of gene expression. Here using improved single-molecule RNA microscopy, we show that synthesis of HIV-1 RNA is achieved by groups of closely spaced polymerases, termed convoys, as opposed to single isolated enzymes. Convoys arise by a Mediator-dependent reinitiation mechanism, which generates a transient but rapid succession of polymerases initiating and escaping the promoter. During elongation, polymerases are spaced by few hundred nucleotides, and physical modelling suggests that DNA torsional stress may maintain polymerase spacing. We additionally observe that the HIV-1 promoter displays stochastic fluctuations on two time scales, which we refer to as multi-scale bursting. Each time scale is regulated independently: Mediator controls minute-scale fluctuation (convoys), while TBP-TATA-box interaction controls sub-hour fluctuations (long permissive/non-permissive periods). A cellular promoter also produces polymerase convoys and displays multi-scale bursting. We propose that slow, TBP-dependent fluctuations are important for phenotypic variability of single cells.

Indexed as

Transcription, GeneticBase SequenceCell SurvivalDNA-Directed RNA PolymerasesGene Products, tatHeLa CellsHIV-1HumansKineticsModels, BiologicalPromoter Regions, GeneticRNASingle Molecule ImagingTATA BoxTATA-Box Binding ProteinDNA-Directed RNA PolymerasesGene Products, tatRNATATA-Box Binding Protein

Identifiers

PMID27461529
PMCPMC4974459
OpenAlexW2491614679

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.