title: Do sigma factors need help with a meltdown?
abstract: In this issue of Cell, Hsu et al. (2006) report on the binding activity of a variant of the bacterial transcriptional specificity factor sigma (sigma) to promoter DNA. This study demonstrates that the sigma variant induces a large distortion in the transcriptional start site in the absence of core RNA polymerase, raising intriguing new questions about the roles of sigma and core RNA polymerase in transcription initiation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 53706, USA. rmsaecker@wisc.edu
authors.forename: Ruth M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Saecker
authors.forename: Caroline A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.forename: M T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Record
mesh_terms: D001412:Bacillus subtilis; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry; D012321:DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases / Q000378:metabolism; D008957:Models, Genetic; D009691:Nucleic Acid Denaturation; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics; D012808:Sigma Factor / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D024363:Transcription Initiation Site; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D012808:Sigma Factor; D012321:DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases