bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.02.05.936344; this version posted February 6, 2020. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder. This article is a US Government work. It is not subject to copyright under 17 USC 105 and is also made available for use under a CC0 license. Escherichia coli σ38 promoters use two UP elements instead of a −35 element: resolution of a paradox and discovery that σ38 transcribes ribosomal promoters Kevin S. Franco†,1, Zhe Sun†,1, Yixiong Chen1, Cedric Cagliero2, Yuhong Zuo3, Yan Ning Zhou1, Mikhail Kashlev1, Ding Jun Jin1 and Thomas D. Schneider 1,∗ version = 3.15 of sigma38.tex 2020 Jan 08 1National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute, Center for Cancer Research, RNA Biology Laboratory, P. O. Box B, Frederick, MD 21702-1201. (301) 846-5581;
[email protected]; https://alum.mit.edu/www/toms/. 2 National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute, Center for Cancer Research, Gene Regulation and Chromosome Bi- ology Laboratory, P. O. Box B, Frederick, MD 21702-1201. Jecho Laboratories, Inc. 7320A Executive way, Frederick, MD 21704. 3Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA. † These authors contributed equally to this work. ∗Corresponding author. 1 Abstract In E. coli, one RNA polymerase (RNAP) transcribes all RNA species, and different regu- lons are transcribed by employing different sigma (σ) factors. RNAP containing σ38 (σS ) activates genes responding to stress conditions such as stationary phase. The structure of σ38 promoters has been controversial for more than two decades.