Forward genetics and super-resolution microscopy identifies ZitP as a conserved multifunctional regulator that accumulates at both cell extremities in distinct macromolecular structures to perform different functions in the asymmetric model bacterium Caulobacter crescentus.
Balanced peptidoglycan synthesis requires regulators, including sigma-I and WalKR, that coordinate the diffusive action of class A PBPs and the directional motion of the MreB-directed elongasome.
Cryo-electron microscopy structures, combined with biochemical experiments, show how the E. coli F element-encoded TraR protein regulates transcription initiation by altering RNA polymerase conformation and conformational heterogeneity.
RNA aptamers that are closely related and share a common scaffold can readily adapt to recognize new ligands through changes in just a few nucleotides.
Biochemical analyses of transcription complexes, including kinetic studies and probes of translocational and conformational states, establish the elemental mechanism of pausing, which underlies regulation of gene expression in all organisms.
Investigation of global gene expression profiles during formation of the Myxococcus xanthus specialized biofilm reveals a genetic regulatory network that coordinates cell motility, differentiation, and secondary metabolite production.
A bacterial tRNA gene set rapidly evolves, compensating the loss of one tRNA type by large duplication events that increase the gene copy number of a second, different tRNA type.
An unbiased forward genetic screen identified genes in Mycobacterium tuberculosis that are required for fatty acid import when the bacterium is residing within macrophages.
A riboswitch class has been discovered for phosphoribosyl pyrophosphate, the biochemical precursor of nucleotides, and this novel RNA sensor commonly operates in tandem with a guanine aptamer to function like a Boolean logic gate.
