Making informed decisions: regulatory interactions between two-component systems

Bacteria experience a multitude of stresses in the complex niches they inhabit. These stresses are denoted by specific signals that typically alter the activity of individual two-component regulatory systems. Processing of multiple signals by different two-component systems occurs when multiple sensors interact with a single response regulator, by phosphatases interrupting phosphoryl transfer in phosphorelays and through transcriptional and post-transcriptional mechanisms. Gaining insight into these mechanisms provides an understanding at the molecular level of bacterial adaptation to ever changing multifaceted environments.