Escherichia coli SoxS, the direct transcription activator of the SoxRS (superoxide) regulon, is intrinsically unstable with an in vivo half-life of approximately 2 min. Overexpression of SoxS is lethal, but mutations interfering with DNA binding relieve the toxicity. Here, we determined the effects on the half-life of SoxS of alanine substitutions that confer defects in positive control, i.e. transcription activation, or in specific DNA binding. We found that both types of mutations render SoxS more unstable than the wild-type protein, as if 'soxbox' DNA and RNA polymerase serve as stabilizing ligands in vivo that protect SoxS from degradation by Lon, the protease shown previously to be primarily responsible for its turnover. Indeed, we found that the addition of soxbox DNA or RNA polymerase to an in vitro degradation system decreases the rate of SoxS proteolysis by Lon protease. To the best of our knowledge, these are the first examples of target DNA and RNA polymerase serving as ligands that inhibit the turnover of an unstable transcription activator.