Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41680459›Full record

ArticleCommunications biology2026

Aromatic patch in whiB-like transcription factors facilitates primary sigma factor interaction in mycobacterium tuberculosis.

Daisy Guiza Beltran, Tao Wan, Javier Seravalli, Magdaléna Horová, Camden Jones, Shanren Li, Pengchong Ma, Chloe Ong, Zhifang Lu, Donald F Becker and 6 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Communications biology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

16 authors.

Daisy Guiza Beltran *Department of Biochemistry, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA.
Tao Wan *Department of Biochemistry, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA.
Javier SeravalliDepartment of Biochemistry, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5619-9424
Magdaléna HorováDepartment of Biochemistry, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA.
Camden JonesDepartment of Biochemistry, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA.
Shanren LiDepartment of Biochemistry, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA.
Pengchong MaSchool of Computing, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0003-2385-8077
Chloe OngDepartment of Biochemistry, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0005-7894-2342
Zhifang LuDepartment of Biochemistry, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA.
Donald F BeckerDepartment of Biochemistry, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1350-7201
Jeffrey P MowerDepartment of Agronomy and Horticulture, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1501-5809
Qiuming YaoSchool of Computing, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA.
Yu PanDepartment of Biological System Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA.
Hongfeng YuSchool of Computing, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA.
Adrie J C SteynDepartment of Microbiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9177-8827
LiMei ZhangDepartment of Biochemistry, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA. lzhang30@unl.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6807-5103

Funding

X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy (XAS) pp.711-759P41GM103393 · NIGMS · STANFORD UNIVERSITY · PI HODGSON, KEITH O · 2012 to 2019
$30.6M
Structures and Mechanisms of Iron-Sulfur Proteins in Redox Control and Stress ResponseR35GM138157 · NIGMS · UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA LINCOLN · PI ZHANG, LIMEI · 2020 to 2024
$2.1M
Molecular Mechanisms of DiseaseT32GM136593 · NIGMS · UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA LINCOLN · PI Donald F Becker, EDWARD N HARRIS · 2020 to 2026
$1.8M
DOE | Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy | Wind Energy Technologies Office (U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Wind Energy Technologies Office) DE-AC02-76SF00515National Science Foundation (NSF) CLP 1846908NIGMS NIH HHS R35 GM138157NIGMS NIH HHS T32 GM136593U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) P41GM103393
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

WhiB-like (Wbl) family proteins are a unique family of iron-sulfur ([4Fe-4S]) cluster-bound transcription factors found exclusively in Actinobacteria and actinobacteriophages, including the notoriously persistent pathogen Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). Despite their critical roles in cell development, stress response and antibiotic resistance, the mechanisms of gene regulation by the Wbl family proteins are not fully understood due to the lack of a canonical DNA-binding motif in most Wbl proteins. Here, we present structural and biochemical evidence demonstrating that all Mtb Wbl proteins bind to the same site in the conserved region 4 of the primary sigma 70 factor facilitated by a previously unrecognized structural motif, the aromatic patch, in the Wbl family. Our phylogenetic findings provide compelling evidence for a complex evolutionary relationship of Wbls between actinobacteria and the associated phages. Together, this work fills a critical gap in our understanding of the function, mechanism and evolutionary origin of Wbls.

Indexed as

Bacterial ProteinsMycobacterium tuberculosisSigma FactorTranscription FactorsAmino Acid SequenceGene Expression Regulation, BacterialModels, MolecularPhylogenyProtein BindingBacterial ProteinsSigma FactorTranscription Factors

Identifiers

PMID41680459
PMCPMC13013590

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.