RT Journal Article
T1 Extracytoplasmic function sigma factors as tools for coordinating stress responses
A1 Dios Barranco, Rubén de
A1 Santero, Eduardo
A1 Reyes-Ramírez, Francisca
K1 Extracytoplasmic function sigma factors
K1 Stress response
K1 Signal transduction
K1 Anti-sigma factor
AB The ability of bacterial core RNA polymerase (RNAP) to interact with different sigma factors, thereby forming a variety of holoenzymes with different specificities, represents a powerful tool to coordinately reprogram gene expression. Extracytoplasmic function sigma factors (ECFs), which are the largest and most diverse family of alternative sigma factors, frequently participate in stress responses. The classification of ECFs in 157 different groups according to their phylogenetic relationships and genomic context has revealed their diversity. Here, we have clustered 55 ECF groups with experimentally studied representatives into two broad classes of stress responses. The remaining 102 groups still lack any mechanistic or functional insight, representing a myriad of systems yet to explore. In this work, we review the main features of ECFs and discuss the different mechanismscontrolling their production and activity, and how they lead to a functional stress response. Finally, we focus in more detail on two well-characterized ECFs, for which the mechanisms to detect and respond to stress are complex and completely different: Escherichia coli RpoE, which is the best characterized ECF and whose structural and functional studies have provided key insights into the transcription initiation by ECF-RNAP holoenzymes, and the ECF15-type EcfG, the master regulator of the general stress response in Alphaproteobacteria.
PB MDPI (Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute)
YR 2021
FD 2021-04-09
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10433/25383
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10433/25383
LA en
NO International Journal of Molecular Sciences, volumen 22, número 8, artículo 3900.
NO This work was supported by grants: BIO2014-57545-R and PGC2018-097151-B-I00, cofunded by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación and the European Regional Development Fund, and by a fellowship from the FPU program (Ministerio de Universidades, Spain), awarded to Rubén de Dios.
NO Universidad Pablo de Olavide. Departamento de Biología Molecular e Ingeniería Bioquímica
DS RIO
RD Apr 24, 2026