A nascent riboswitch helix orchestrates robust transcriptional regulation through signal integration.

ABSTRACT: Widespread manganese-sensing transcriptional riboswitches effect the dependable gene regulation needed for bacterial manganese homeostasis in changing environments. Riboswitches - like most structured RNAs - are believed to fold co-transcriptionally, subject to both ligand binding and transcription events; yet how these processes are orchestrated for robust regulation is poorly understood. Through a combination of single-molecule and bulk approaches, we discover how a single Mn²⁺ ion and the transcribing RNA polymerase (RNAP), paused immediately downstream by a DNA template sequence, are coordinated by the bridging switch helix P1.1 in the representative Lactococcus lactis riboswitch. This coordination achieves a heretofore-overlooked semi-docked global conformation of the nasce

SUBMITTER: Chauvier A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11087558 | biostudies-literature | 2024 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature