The bacterial cell-cycle regulator GcrA is a σ70 co-factor that drives gene expression from a subset of methylated promoters.

ABSTRACT: Cell cycle progression in most organisms requires tightly regulated programs of gene expression. The transcription factors involved typically stimulate gene expression by binding specific DNA sequences in promoters and recruiting RNA polymerase. Here, we find that the essential cell cycle regulator GcrA in Caulobacter crescentus activates the transcription of target genes in a fundamentally different manner. GcrA forms a stable complex with RNA polymerase and localizes to almost all active σ70-dependent promoters in vivo, but activates transcription primarily at promoters harboring certain DNA methylation sites. Whereas most transcription factors that contact σ70 interact with domain 4, GcrA interfaces with domain 2, the region that binds the -10 element during strand separation. Using

ORGANISM(S): Caulobacter vibrioides

SUBMITTER: Diane Haakonsen 

PROVIDER: E-GEOD-73925 | biostudies-arrayexpress |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-arrayexpress