Comparative genomic reconstruction of transcriptional regulatory networks in bacteria

A review is made on the novel approaches of identifying transcription factor-binding sites (TFBSs) and RNA regulatory elements for the analysis of bacterial regulons. A summary on the computational reconstruction of certain transcriptional regulatory networks (TRNs) in bacteria is presented as well as an overview of Web-accessible databases of microbial transcription factors (TFs) and their TFBSs. Furthermore, a discussion on the evolution of bacterial regulons and the balance of conservation and the flexible composition of TRNs are also presented. Specific topics covered include computational methods for identifying of regulatory motifs, reconstruction and comparison of regulatory networks that control central metabolism in bacteria and lastly, patterns and mechanisms in evolution of transcriptional regulatory networks.