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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2017 Feb 24.
Published in final edited form as: Annu Rev Biochem. 2009;78:305–334. doi: 10.1146/annurev.biochem.78.070507.135656

Figure 2.

Figure 2

Kinetic and thermodynamic factors that influence riboswitch function. (a) Schematic representation of a riboswitch that represses gene expression upon ligand binding by controlling transcription termination. Factors that affect riboswitch function include (1) rate constants for aptamer folding and unfolding; (2) rate constants for ligand association and dissociation; (3) rate constants for expression platform folding and unfolding; (4) speed of transcription elongation by RNA polymerase (RNAP). (b) Schematic representation of a riboswitch that represses gene expression upon ligand binding by controlling translation initiation. Numbers 1 through 4 are as described in (a); (5) speed of Rho-dependent transcription termination.