VirB, a key transcriptional regulator of Shigella virulence, requires a CTP ligand for its regulatory activities.

ABSTRACT: The VirB protein, encoded by the large virulence plasmid of Shigella spp., is a key transcriptional regulator of virulence genes. Without a functional virB gene, Shigella cells are avirulent. On the virulence plasmid, VirB functions to offset transcriptional silencing mediated by the nucleoid structuring protein, H-NS, which binds and sequesters AT-rich DNA, making it inaccessible for gene expression. Thus, gaining a mechanistic understanding of how VirB counters H-NS-mediated silencing is of considerable interest. VirB is unusual in that it does not resemble classic transcription factors. Instead, its closest relatives are found in the ParB superfamily, where the best-characterized members function in faithful DNA segregation before cell division. Here, we show that V

SUBMITTER: Gerson TM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10245682 | biostudies-literature | 2023 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature