The defining features of intrinsic transcription terminators
Robert A. Battaglia, Ebru Ermiş, Expery O. Omollo, Gene-Wei Li · 2026
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Description
Robert A. Battaglia led a 2026 study that rewrites the rules for bacterial stop signals that end RNA copying and tune downstream genes. The textbook model, an RNA hairpin followed by a uracil-rich stretch, proved incomplete, since mutations that preserve the hairpin can still abolish termination. The team mapped stop sites precisely across ten thousand sequences to hunt for the missing feature.
They found two-letter units at both edges of the copying bubble, resembling the basic pause signal of RNA polymerase, that are required for stopping. Together, hairpin, uracil tract, and bubble-edge sequences, dubbed HUB, explain most variation in stopping power and pinpoint true stop signals across diverse bacterial groups. Lab biologists get a sharper framework for decoding genomes and engineering gene expression, grounded in a feature the old model missed.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Robert A. Battaglia, Ebru Ermiş, Expery O. Omollo, Gene-Wei Li |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 1 KB |
| VERSION | 1.0 |
| LICENSE | CC BY 4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |