Overview[]
A divergon is a pair of divergently transcribed operons that work together in the same biological system. In the classic arrangement, one of the two operons is monocistronic (consists of a single gene) and encodes a transcription factor that binds a regulatory site located between the two operons and regulates transcription of both operons. The lytRABC locus in Bacillus subtilis provides an example (PMID: 1357079); LytR modulates the transcription of both the lytR and lytABC operons.
A divergon may be conserved across multiple species and qualify as a thing, a feature in some larger bioinformatics grammar. A well-conserved divergon invites a bioinformatics journey in which phylogenetic footprinting tries to find and describe the transcription factor binding site.