title: Transcriptional silencing in bacteria.
abstract: Transcriptional silencing and repression are modes of negative control of gene expression that differ in specificity. Repressors, when present at promoter-specific binding sites, interfere locally with RNA polymerase function. Silencing proteins act by covering a continuous region of DNA, compete with a broader spectrum of proteins and are non-specific with respect to the promoters affected. Studies of transcriptional silencing promise an entrée to relatively unexplored areas of prokaryotic biology.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Biochemistry, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892-4255, USA. myarmo@helix.nih. gov
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yarmolinsky
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000235:genetics*; D002503:Centromere / Q000235:genetics; D002876:Chromosomes, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D020868:Gene Silencing; D005798:Genes, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D009876:Operon / Q000235:genetics; D014158:Transcription, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*