Bacterial T-boxes are regulatory mRNA regions that control the transcription or translation of factors involved in amino acid supply. T-boxes act by directly binding to non-aminoacylated tRNA in response to amino acid starvation. Three studies now capture three-dimensional structures of tRNA–T-box complexes and reveal a set of RNA features that are required for the recognition of specific tRNAs and modulation of gene expression.
- Jacob W. Weaver
- Alexander Serganov