Mfd regulates RNA polymerase association with hard-to-transcribe regions in vivo, especially those with structured RNAs

The bacterial DNA translocase Mfd binds to stalled RNAPs and is generally thought to facilitate transcription-coupled DNA repair. Most of our knowledge about Mfd is based on data from biochemical studies. We show that Mfd modulates RNAP association and alters transcription at a variety of chromosomal loci, especially those containing highly structured, regulatory RNAs.