Complex Riboswitches
Ronald R. Breaker
Using simple biochemical tricks, metabolite-binding riboswitches take on gene control functions that have long been thought to be the work of protein factors. Although modern riboswitches might be the last holdouts of primitive genetic elements, some are capable of sensory and regulatory feats that are competitive with their protein counterparts.
Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520, USA. E-mail: ronald.breaker{at}yale.edu