Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42770326›Full record

ArticleNucleic acids research2026

pH-dependent allosteric remodeling of a bacterial riboswitch couples alkaline activation to metal sensing.

Danea Palmer, Adrien Chauvier, Tomás F D Silva, Avery Ontiveros, Giovanni Bussi, Nils G Walter, Tatiana V Mishanina

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nucleic acids research, 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

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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

7 authors.

Danea PalmerDepartment of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Dr, La Jolla, CA 92093, United States.
Adrien ChauvierSingle Molecule Analysis Group and Center for RNA Biomedicine, Department of Chemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, United States.ORCID 0000-0003-4473-6194
Tomás F D SilvaScuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati, via Bonomea 265, Trieste 34136, Italy.ORCID 0000-0003-4608-2673
Avery OntiverosDepartment of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Dr, La Jolla, CA 92093, United States.
Giovanni BussiScuola Internazionale Superiore di Studi Avanzati, via Bonomea 265, Trieste 34136, Italy.ORCID 0000-0001-9216-5782
Nils G WalterSingle Molecule Analysis Group and Center for RNA Biomedicine, Department of Chemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, United States.ORCID 0000-0002-7301-1275
Tatiana V MishaninaDepartment of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Dr, La Jolla, CA 92093, United States.ORCID 0000-0001-7400-3501

Funding

The RNA nanomachines of the gene expression machinery dissected at the single molecule levelR35GM131922 · NIGMS · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · PI NILS G WALTER · 2019 to 2026
$6.9M
Mechanisms of transcription and co-transcriptional gene expression processes in bacteria and human mitochondriaR35GM142785 · NIGMS · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · PI Tatiana Vladimirovna Mishanina · 2021 to 2026
$2.5M
European Molecular Biology Organization ALTF-399/2022Italian National Centre for HPC, Big Data, and Quantum Computing CN00000013National Science Foundation MCB 2140320National Science Foundation MCB 2516225National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program DGE-2038238Next Generation EU 2022Z4FZE9NIGMS NIH HHS R35 GM131922NIGMS NIH HHS R35 GM142785NIH HHS R35 GM131922NIH HHS R35 GM142785
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The widespread yybP-ykoY riboswitches control bacterial manganese (Mn) homeostasis by activating exporter expression in response to intracellular Mn2+ levels. The Escherichia coli alx riboswitch distinctively couples Mn2+ sensing to cytoplasmic alkalinity, but the mechanism is unknown. We show that pH tunes the alx aptamer's conformational sampling to modulate Mn2+ sensitivity. Single-molecule FRET reveals that Mn2+ stabilizes a docked three-way-junction conformation, and alkaline pH shifts this equilibrium to sensitize metal-dependent folding. Molecular dynamics simulations identify a loop whose low-pH-induced base pairing perturbs the adjacent helix, predicted to allosterically disrupt the Mn2+-binding state. In vivo reporters indicate that both this loop and the Mn2+-binding core are required for optimal pH-dependent translational activation: replacing the core with the non-pH-responsive mntP sequence abolishes activation. These results define how RNA allosterically integrates orthogonal metal and proton cues to enable combinatorial environmental sensing during alkaline stress.

Indexed as

Escherichia coliManganeseRiboswitchRNA, BacterialAllosteric RegulationAptamers, NucleotideFluorescence Resonance Energy TransferHydrogen-Ion ConcentrationMolecular Dynamics SimulationNucleic Acid ConformationAptamers, NucleotideManganeseRiboswitchRNA, Bacterial

Identifiers

PMID42770326
PMCPMC13594968

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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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.