Scientists capture a 'snapshot' of bacterial stress-response regulator's 'recycling truck'

(Brown University) A Brown University-led team found that RssB -- a protein that specifically recognizes a critical stress-response master regulator in bacteria and delivers it to the recycling machinery somewhat like a recycling truck -- forms a compact structure with a factor that inhibits RssB activity. The inhibition factor, called IraD, is triggered by DNA damage, one of many stresses the master regulator helps bacteria survive by turning on important genes.