from Agustino Martínez-Antonio writing in Bacterial Gene Regulation and Transcriptional Networks:
Transcription factors function as sensory systems acting at the core of genetic regulatory switches. The transcriptional regulatory network in Escherichia coli can be studied as the integration of the whole of these genetic sensory systems. The operation of this regulatory system affect the expression of genes by interacting with the DNA at the promoter regions of transcription units. In this review I present the advances of what we know about the mechanistic logic for the operation of the regulatory program in E. coli. It is proposed that for a better understanding on the operation of the regulatory network it should be considered the globalism of transcription factors, the signal perceived by each, their co-regulating activity, the genome position of regulatory and target genes, and cellular concentration of the regulatory proteins, among others.
Further reading: Bacterial Gene Regulation and Transcriptional Networks