EcoTFs

Escherichia coli Transcription Factors and signals

The EcoTFs web site is dedicated to the assembly and dissemination of information about Escherichia coli transcription factors and the signals that control their activity.

This web site was established in November/December of 2003 to provide an online database of information about autoregulation of 50 transcription factors (TFs) in Escherichia coli as supplementary material in support of the following review:

Wall, M. E., Hlavacek, W. S. and Savageau, M. A. (2004) Design of gene circuits: lessons from bacteria. Nat. Rev. Genet. 5, 34-42. [PubMed Abstract | Reprint (pdf) | Online Table S1 (pdf)]

Unique features of this database (an html table with links) include annotation of the signal(s) influencing the activities of each TF and classification of each TF based on 1) the response to a stimulus (induction or repression of regulated effector genes), 2) the mode of regulation at the promoters of regulated effector genes (repressor or activator control), and 3) the co-regulation of TF and effector gene products in response to signals. The information catalogued in the database allows theoretical predictions about the design of gene circuits to be tested. For information about these predictions, please see the following reports:

Hlavacek, W. S. and Savageau, M. A. (1996) Rules for coupled expression of regulator and effector genes in inducible circuits. J. Mol. Biol. 255, 121-139. [PubMed abstract]
Wall, M. E., Hlavacek, W. S. and Savageau, M. A. (2003) Design principles for regulator gene expression in a repressible gene circuit. J. Mol. Biol. 332, 861-876. [PubMed abstract]

Over 100 TFs in E. coli have been studied experimentally (and there are more putative TFs based on the genome sequence), so the current version of the database is incomplete. We plan to add material until the database is as comprehensive as possible for E. coli. We also plan to extend the scope of the database to include information about well-studied TFs in other bacteria. Please check for updates.

Last modified Tuesday, 27-Jul-2004 12:21:34 MDT

Footer

NOTICE: Information from this server resides on a computer system funded by the U.S. Department of Energy. Anyone using this system consents to monitoring of this use by system or security personnel. Please read the disclaimer.