Regulation by transcription attenuation in bacteria: how RNA provides instructions for transcription termination/antitermination decisions

• Published in: BioEssays Vol. 24; no. 8; pp. 700 - 707
• Main Authors: Henkin, Tina M., Yanofsky, Charles
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company 01-08-2002
• Subjects: Bacillus - genetics; Bacillus - physiology; Bacterial Physiological Phenomena; Codon; Escherichia coli - metabolism; Models, Biological; Open Reading Frames; Protein Biosynthesis; RNA - metabolism; RNA, Transfer - metabolism; Transcription, Genetic
• ISSN: 0265-9247; 1521-1878
• DOI: 10.1002/bies.10125

Regulation of gene expression by premature termination of transcription, or transcription attenuation, is a common regulatory strategy in bacteria. Various mechanisms of regulating transcription termination have been uncovered, each can be placed in either of two broad categories of termination events. Many mechanisms involve choosing between two alternative hairpin structures in an RNA transcript, with the decision dependent on interactions between ribosome and transcript, tRNA and transcript, or protein and transcript. In other examples, modification of the transcription elongation complex is the crucial event. This article will describe and compare several of these regulatory strategies, and will cite specific examples to illustrate the different mechanisms employed. BioEssays 24:700–707, 2002. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.