Transcriptional competition biases the effects of second messengers in Escherichia coli (opens in new tab)

Regulator-promoter interactions are often studied in isolation. Ripamonti, Lacassin, et al. demonstrate that indirect regulatory effects can arise through competition for shared transcriptional resources. Focusing on bacterial second messengers, they show cAMP can affect ppGpp targets, highlighting that gene expression is influenced by more than direct regulators.