Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 21, 2026

Application of Biolayer Interferometry (BLI) for Studying Protein-Protein Interactions in Transcription
Published on: July 26, 2019
Activating transcription in bacteria
David J Lee1, Stephen D Minchin, Stephen J W Busby
1School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom. d.lee@bham.ac.uk
Abstract:
Bacteria use a variety of mechanisms to direct RNA polymerase to specific promoters in order to activate transcription in response to growth signals or environmental cues. Activation can be due to factors that interact at specific promoters, thereby increasing transcription directed by these promoters. We examine the range of architectures found at activator-dependent promoters and outline the mechanisms by which input from different factors is integrated. Alternatively, activation can be due to factors that interact with RNA polymerase and change its preferences for target promoters. We summarize the different mechanistic options for activation that are focused directly on RNA polymerase.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
RNA Polymerase II Accessory Proteins
Prokaryotic Transcriptional Activators and Repressors
Transcription of prokaryotic...
Prokaryotic Transcriptional Activators and Repressors
Transcription of prokaryotic...
Eukaryotic Transcription Activators
The binding domains are capable of recognizing and interacting with regulatory sequences on the DNA. These domains are...
Bacterial Transcription
Transcription can be divided into three main stages, each involving distinct DNA sequences to guide the polymerase. These are:
Bacterial RNA Polymerase
In most genes, the transcription site is a single base present upstream of the coding sequence. Though RNAP is a catalytically efficient enzyme, it does not recognize...

