ArticleNucleic acids research2023
Localized modulation of DNA supercoiling, triggered by the Shigella anti-silencer VirB, is sufficient to relieve H-NS-mediated silencing.
Article in Nucleic acids research, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 20 papers.
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Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 27 citations in OpenAlex.
- Selective targeting of a histone-like silencer Sfx to the R6K conjugal transfer operon.Nucleic acids research · 2026Article
- Genome-wide DNA supercoiling arises from transcription and SMC activity and mediates transcriptional negative feedback.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- The role of the VirB ligand CTP in the molecular mechanism of transcriptional anti-silencing in Shigella flexneri.Nucleic acids research · 2026Article
- Remote Regulation by VirB, the Transcriptional Anti-Silencer of Shigella Virulence Genes, Provides Mechanistic Information.Molecular microbiology · 2025Article
- VirBR counter-silences HppX3 to promote conjugation of blaNDM-IncX3 plasmids.Nucleic acids research · 2025Article
- Future Directions of the Prokaryotic Chromosome Field.Molecular microbiology · 2025Article
- Post-translational modifications of the nucleoid protein H-NS: sites, mechanisms, and regulatory cues.FEMS microbiology reviews · 2025Review
- H-NS controls the susceptibility ofFrontiers in veterinary science · 2025Article
- Topoisomerase-modulated genome-wide DNA supercoiling domains colocalize with nuclear compartments and regulate human gene expression.Nature structural & molecular biology · 2025Article
- DNA topology: A central dynamic coordinator in chromatin regulation.Current opinion in structural biology · 2024Review
- Nucleoid-associated proteins shape the global protein occupancy and transcriptional landscape of a clinical isolate ofmSphere · 2024Article
- Bacterial chromatin proteins, transcription, and DNA topology: Inseparable partners in the control of gene expression.Molecular microbiology · 2024Review
- Transcription-driven DNA supercoiling counteracts H-NS-mediated gene silencing in bacterial chromatin.Nature communications · 2024Article
- Lysine acetylation regulates the AT-rich DNA possession ability of H-NS.Nucleic acids research · 2024Article
- The virulence regulator VirB from Shigella flexneri uses a CTP-dependent switch mechanism to activate gene expression.Nature communications · 2024Article
- Methods to Quantitatively Measure Topological Changes Induced by DNA-Binding Proteins In Vivo and In Vitro.Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.) · 2024Article
- VirB, a transcriptional activator of virulence in Shigella flexneri, uses CTP as a cofactor.Communications biology · 2023Article
- VirB, a key transcriptional regulator ofmBio · 2023Article
- A Tale aboutMicroorganisms · 2023Review
- VirB, a key transcriptional regulator ofbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2023Article
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7 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
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Abstract
In Bacteria, nucleoid structuring proteins govern nucleoid dynamics and regulate transcription. In Shigella spp., at ≤30°C, the histone-like nucleoid structuring protein (H-NS) transcriptionally silences many genes on the large virulence plasmid. Upon a switch to 37°C, VirB, a DNA binding protein and key transcriptional regulator of Shigella virulence, is produced. VirB functions to counter H-NS-mediated silencing in a process called transcriptional anti-silencing. Here, we show that VirB mediates a loss of negative DNA supercoils from our plasmid-borne, VirB-regulated PicsP-lacZ reporter in vivo. The changes are not caused by a VirB-dependent increase in transcription, nor do they require the presence of H-NS. Instead, the VirB-dependent change in DNA supercoiling requires the interaction of VirB with its DNA binding site, a critical first step in VirB-dependent gene regulation. Using two complementary approaches, we show that VirB:DNA interactions in vitro introduce positive supercoils in plasmid DNA. Subsequently, by exploiting transcription-coupled DNA supercoiling, we reveal that a localized loss of negative supercoils is sufficient to alleviate H-NS-mediated transcriptional silencing independently of VirB. Together, our findings provide novel insight into VirB, a central regulator of Shigella virulence and, more broadly, a molecular mechanism that offsets H-NS-dependent silencing of transcription in bacteria.
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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.