RfaH Counter-Silences Inhibition of Transcript Elongation by H-NS–StpA Nucleoprotein Filaments in Pathogenic Escherichiacoli

Bacterial pathogens adapt to hosts and host defenses by reprogramming gene expression, including by H-NS counter-silencing. Counter-silencing turns on transcription initiation when regulators bind to promoters and rearrange repressive H-NS nucleoprotein filaments that ordinarily block transcription.