Here, using cryo-EM and biochemical methods, the authors demonstrate that second messenger (p)ppGpp regulates the bacterial RNA polymerase by binding to a site that is functionally relevant during transcriptional elongation but not initiation. Moreover, they demonstrate that binding to that site bears functional implications for nucleotide excision DNA repair and genome stability.
- Jacob W. Weaver
- Sergey Proshkin
- Evgeny Nudler
