Helen J. Wing and Joy McKenna (both Life Sciences) have published a primary research article, "The Anti-Activator of Type III Secretion, OspD1, is Transcriptionally Regulated by VirB and H-NS from Remote Sequences in Shigella Flexneri," in a recent edition of the Journal of Bacteriology (ASM Journal). Their work reveals that transcriptional control of virulence genes in the human pathogen Shigella flexneri can occur from remotely located DNA sites. Their findings raise the possibility that long-range transcriptional regulation in bacteria may be more common than previously thought. Their study also sheds light on the regulatory cascade that controls type III secretion; a key virulence feature of all Shigella species. McKenna is a doctoral candidate.