ArticleNucleic acids research2026
Activation of bacterial transcription by distortion of promoter base pairing.
Article in Nucleic acids research, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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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
1 citing paper in PubMed.
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Bacterial RNA polymerase binds and unwinds promoter DNA to initiate transcription. The process is often inefficient and can be stimulated by activator proteins. For example, many activators bind RNA polymerase and promoters simultaneously, stabilizing their interaction. Working with the multiple antibiotic resistance activator (MarA) protein of Escherichia coli, we have discovered an alternative mechanism. We show that, when bound upstream of the flgBCDEFGHIJ/KL operon, MarA perturbs base pairing adjacent to its DNA target. This compensates for inefficient duplex unwinding by RNA polymerase and, as a result, activates transcription. Consistent with our model, an appropriate base pair mismatch mimics the effect of, and removes the need for, MarA. As many regulators alter DNA conformation, we suggest that this mechanism of activation could be commonplace.
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Registered trials
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