Figure 5. Phase separation regulates transcription and fungal cell fate.

a, Coordinated binding of multiple TFs to regions upstream of their ORFs is often observed even without consensus binding sites for these regulators, suggestive of recruitment by protein-protein interactions. b, A phase separation model of transcription where TFs form condensates together with the transcriptional machinery to regulate the expression of cell identity genes. c, C. albicans switches epigenetically between “white” and “opaque” phenotypic states. d, The white-to-opaque transition is regulated by a TF network whose members bind to their own promoters as well as those of others in the network, as indicated by the arrows. Adapted from ref ⁸². e, RNA polymerase II interacts with transcriptional initiation or elongation condensates depending on the phosphorylation state of its C-terminal domain (CTD).