The lrpC gene was identified during the Bacillus subtilis genome sequencing project. Previous experiments suggested that LrpC has a role in sporulation and in the regulation of amino acid metabolism and that it shares features with Escherichia coli Lrp, a transcription regulator (C. Beloin, S. Ayora, R. Exley, L. Hirschbein, N. Ogasawara, Y. Kasahara, J. C. Alonso, and F. Le Hégarat, Mol. Gen. Genet. 256:63-71, 1997). To characterize the interactions of LrpC with DNA, the protein was overproduced and purified. We show that LrpC binds to multiple sites in the upstream region of its own gene with a stronger affinity for a region encompassing P1, one of the putative promoters identified (P1 and P2). By analyzing lrpC-lacZ transcriptional fusions, we demonstrated that P1 is the major in vivo promoter and that, unlike many members of the lrp/asnC family, lrpC is not negatively autoregulated but rather slightly positively autoregulated. Production of LrpC in vivo is low in both rich and minimal media (50 to 300 LrpC molecules per cell). In rich medium, the cellular LrpC content is six-to sevenfold lower during the exponentional phase than during the stationary growth phase. Possible determinants and the biological significance of the regulation of lrpC expression are discussed.LrpC from Bacillus subtilis belongs to the Lrp/AsnC family of proteins named after two regulators identified in Escherichia coli: Lrp (leucine-responsive regulatory protein) and AsnC (3,6,17,27). Lrp from E. coli is a global regulatory protein that controls the expression of about 75 genes (26), whereas AsnC regulates the expression of the asnA gene only, which codes for asparagine synthetase A (17). Sequences of several genomes revealed not only the presence of lrp/asnC-like genes in grampositive eubacteria and in archaea but also a surprising multiplicity of these genes in the genome of B. subtilis. Seven genes encoding proteins of the Lrp/AsnC family, including lrpC, can be detected in B. subtilis using the BLAST program (1): lrpC (EMBL accession no. Z99106), lrpA (yddO) (EMBL accession no. Z99106), lrpB (yddP) (EMBL accession no. Z99106), yezC (EMBL accession no. Z99107), ywrC (EMBL accession no. Z93767), azlB (EMBL accession no. Y11043), and yugG (EMBL accession no. Z93934). In addition to the lrpC gene, three other lrp genes have already been studied: lrpA (yddO), lrpB (yddP) (10), and azlB (2). lrpA and lrpB are implicated in KinB-dependent sporulation, probably through regulation of glyA transcription by their corresponding proteins (10). azlB, initially described as a locus conferring resistance to 4-azaleucine (44), was found to be a negative regulator of the azlBCDEF operon involved in branched-chain amino acid transport (2).LrpC is a 16.4-kDa protein that cross-reacts with antibodies against E. coli Lrp (3). It shares 34 and 25% identity with the E. coli Lrp and AsnC proteins, respectively. An lrpC mutant does not display a radically altered phenotype, suggesting that LrpC can be replaced with the other Lrp/AsnC-like proteins of B. s...

This article examines writing as the last link in the epistemology-theory-methodology alignment. Although political scientists dedicate a great deal of their time to writing, conversations on this topic remain scarce within international relations and political science overall. Notably absent are analyses of the actual writing choices scholars make and what these mean for the knowledge they produce. This article uses the tools of literary analysis to take a closer look at the mechanics of three published academic articles in the fields of international relations and comparative politics. It focuses on how qualitative interviews are written, demonstrates how authors can conceal or reveal the dialogical dimension, and examines how they deal with the conundrum of the representation of research participants. This kind of reflexive analysis reveals the epistemological foundations of a given research article and can be used to identify instances of misrepresentation and misalignment. As such, it is an important tool for the improvement of academic writing.

À partir d’une enquête de terrain menée en 2015, cet article analyse la mise en œuvre d’une politique de développement participatif dans la province du Nord Kordofan au Soudan. Il propose de l’interpréter comme une modulation particulière du régime autoritaire de l’ Inqaz . D’un côté, les autorités locales mobilisent un discours sur la spécificité de la région et la rupture avec le passé immédiat pour susciter l’adhésion. De l’autre, elles ont recours à des pratiques caractéristiques du régime et de son utilisation de l’économie du don, et, au-delà, du fait autoritaire dans le Soudan postcolonial.

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