ArticleCell reports2022
The archetypal gene transfer agent RcGTA is regulated via direct interaction with the enigmatic RNA polymerase omega subunit.
Article in Cell reports, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 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.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed, 10 citations in OpenAlex.
- Gene transfer agents: The ambiguous role of selfless viruses in genetic exchange and bacterial evolution.Molecular microbiology · 2025Review
- Transcription activation inEcoSal Plus · 2024Review
- Control of a gene transfer agent cluster in Caulobacter crescentus by transcriptional activation and anti-termination.Nature communications · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Gene transfer agents (GTAs) are small virus-like particles that indiscriminately package and transfer any DNA present in their host cell, with clear implications for bacterial evolution. The first transcriptional regulator that directly controls GTA expression, GafA, was recently discovered, but its mechanism of action has remained elusive. Here, we demonstrate that GafA controls GTA gene expression via direct interaction with the RNA polymerase omega subunit (Rpo-ω) and also positively autoregulates its own expression by an Rpo-ω-independent mechanism. We show that GafA is a modular protein with distinct DNA and protein binding domains. The functional domains we observe in Rhodobacter GafA also correspond to two-gene operons in Hyphomicrobiales pathogens. These data allow us to produce the most complete regulatory model for a GTA and point toward an atypical mechanism for RNA polymerase recruitment and specific transcriptional activation in the Alphaproteobacteria.
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