ArticleMolecular cell2020
Stress Can Induce Transcription of Toxin-Antitoxin Systems without Activating Toxin.
Article in Molecular cell, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 86 papers.
What it found
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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.
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.
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Who cites it
86 citing papers in PubMed, 137 citations in OpenAlex.
- An ancestral transmembrane transcription factor couples cell envelope regulation and the SOS response in Caulobacter crescentus.PLoS genetics · 2026Article
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- Integrative Genomic and Structural Analysis Reveals Diversity and Stability of yefM-yoeBCurrent microbiology · 2026Article
- Toxin dimerization and a distinct DNA-binding architecture define chromosomal Phd-Doc regulation.Nucleic acids research · 2026Article
- Bacterial zinc metalloproteases as facilitators of pathogenic success: a review.Archives of microbiology · 2026Review
- Hardwired survival algorithms: RelBE1 and MadR1 couple carbon state to metabolic persistence inFrontiers in microbiology · 2026Article
- Alternative nucleic acid structures in microbial biology: regulatory functions and antimicrobial opportunities.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2026Review
- Insights into toxin-antitoxin systems in the genusApplied and environmental microbiology · 2025Review
- Ribonuclease toxin RelE1 inhibits growth of Mycobacterium tuberculosis through specific cleavage of the ribosomal anti-Shine-Dalgarno region.Nucleic acids research · 2025Article
- MazF endoribonuclease promotes resolution of transcription-replication conflicts at ribosomal RNA genes in Escherichia coli.Nucleic acids research · 2025Article
- Gentamicin induction of the gonococcalmBio · 2025Article
- Toxin-antitoxins and sigma factors may optimize the fitness of free-living bacteria throughout the life cycle via an integrated nutrient-responsive cybernetic system.Journal of the Royal Society, Interface · 2025Review
- Stress genomics of the toxigenic cyanobacteria: environmental and biotechnological perspectives.World journal of microbiology & biotechnology · 2025Review
- Article
- Bacterial programmed cell death and toxin-antitoxin system in bacteria.Archives of microbiology · 2025Review
- A bacterial toxin-antitoxin system as a native defence element against RNA phages.Biology letters · 2025Article
- Effect of host microenvironment and bacterial lifestyles on antimicrobial sensitivity and implications for susceptibility testing.npj antimicrobials and resistance · 2025Review
- Antibiotic-recalcitrant Salmonella during infection.Nature reviews. Microbiology · 2025Review
- Article
26 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Toxin-antitoxin (TA) systems are ubiquitous genetic elements in bacterial genomes, but their functions are controversial. Although they are frequently postulated to regulate cell growth following stress, few null phenotypes for TA systems have been reported. Here, we show that TA transcript levels can increase substantially in response to stress, but toxin is not liberated. We find that the growth of an Escherichia coli strain lacking ten TA systems encoding endoribonuclease toxins is not affected following exposure to six stresses that each trigger TA transcription. Additionally, using RNA sequencing, we find no evidence of mRNA cleavage following stress. Stress-induced transcription arises from antitoxin degradation and relief of transcriptional autoregulation. Importantly, although free antitoxin is readily degraded in vivo, antitoxin bound to toxin is protected from proteolysis, preventing release of active toxin. Thus, transcription is not a reliable marker of TA activity, and TA systems do not strongly promote survival following individual stresses.
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Registered trials
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.