Small Things Considered

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Small things considered: the small accessory subunits of RNA polymerase in Gram-positive bacteria.

The DNA-dependent RNA polymerase core enzyme in Gram-positive bacteria consists of seven subunits. Whilst four of them (α2ββ(')) are essential, three smaller subunits, δ, ε and ω (∼9-21.5 kDa), are considered accessory. Both δ and ω have been viewed as integral components of RNAP for several decades; however, ε has only recently been described. Functionally these three small subunits carry out ...

In the Company of Microbes: Ten Years of Small Things Considered

I 2006, Elio Schaechter began a blog, titled Small Things Considered, about the microbial world for the American Society for Microbiology (ASM). The book, In the Company of Microbes: Ten Years of Small Things Considered, is a selected compilation of 70 of the more than 1,000 blog entries that were posted through 2015. Contributions from 33 writers in addition to Dr. Schaechter are included. The...

All Things Considered, Taxes Drive the January Effect

The multitude of explanations for the January effect leaves the reader confused about its primary cause(s): is it tax-loss selling, window dressing, information, bid-ask bounce, or a combination of these causes? The confusion arises, in part, because evidence has generally been presented in support of a particular hypothesis though the same evidence may be consistent with another hypothesis. Fu...

Big on Small Things