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Query: EC:2.7.7.6 (RNA polymerase)
 34,946 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

A G----T mutation at the start-point of transcription of the phage P22 sar promoter (sar + 1T) causes a novel defect in promoter clearance by Escherichia coli RNA polymerase (RNAP) in vitro. Under standard transcription conditions, in the presence of high concentrations of all four NTPs, the predominant products from this promoter are poly(U) chains of varying length. Because the mutation creates a run of four T: A base-pairs from - 1 to +3 (TGTT----TTTT), we propose that synthesis of poly(U) is pseudo-templated by the A4 stretch on the template strand. G----A and G----C mutations at position +1 do not cause pseudo-templated transcription. Several molecules of poly(U) are produced and released per sar+1T promoter-polymerase complex without dissociation of RNAP from the template DNA. The exponential relationship between yield and size of individual poly(U) species indicates that there is a constant probability that another U residue will be added to the nascent chain. Presumably, pseudo-templated transcription occurs by a slippage (stuttering) mechanism like that proposed to explain certain kinds of RNA editing in eukaryotic viral mRNAs.
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PMID:Pseudo-templated transcription by Escherichia coli RNA polymerase at a mutant promoter. 170 Nov 52

Appropriate RNAs are transcribed and amplified and proteins are expressed after transfection into cells of in vitro-reconstituted RNA-protein complexes and infection with influenza virus as the helper. This system permits us to study the signals involved in transcription of influenza virus RNAs. For the analysis we used a plasmid-derived RNA containing the reporter gene for chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) flanked by the noncoding sequences of the NS RNA segment of influenza A/WSN/33 virus. Mutations were then introduced into both the 5' and 3' ends, and the resulting RNAs were studied to determine their transcription in vitro and their CAT expression activity in the RNA-protein transfection system. The results reveal that a stretch of uninterrupted uridines at the 5' end of the negative-strand RNA is essential for mRNA synthesis. Also, a double-stranded RNA "panhandle" structure generated by the 5'- and 3'-terminal nucleotides appears to be required for polyadenylation, since opening up of these base pairs diminished mRNA synthesis and eliminated expression of CAT activity by the mutant RNAs. Finally, it was shown that this double-stranded RNA structural requirement is not sequence specific, since a synthetic GC clamp can replace the virus-coded RNA duplex. The data suggest that the viral RNA polymerase adds poly(A) by a slippage (stuttering) mechanism which occurs when it hits the double-stranded RNA barrier next to the stretch of uridines.
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PMID:The polyadenylation signal of influenza virus RNA involves a stretch of uridines followed by the RNA duplex of the panhandle structure. 203 59

The 5'-terminal structures of human adenovirus type 2 (Ad2) early region 2 (E2) mRNA were investigated. The E2 transcription unit has several interesting properties, including the presence of a TATA-like box that matches the consensus sequence poorly, delayed transcription during early stages of infection, and a switch in promoter recognition late after infection. E2-specific RNA, 5'-labeled in vitro to high specific activity was analyzed. Purified E2 mRNA was digested with RNase A or RNase T1 and the resulting oligonucleotides were resolved by two dimensional paper electrophoresis-homochromatography. Remarkably, as many as sixteen 5'-terminal RNase A oligonucleotides were identified and their sequences were deduced. The most common 5'-termini in the RNase A digest were p(m6)AmCp, p(m6)AmA(m)Cp, pGmA(m)Cp, and p(m6)AmG(m)Cp. Two RNase A oligonucleotides originated from the E4 promoter region, consistent with electron microscopic observations. The sequence encoding these potential initiation sites covered about 90 nucleotides. Eleven of the sequences of the 5'-terminal RNase A oligonucleotides were aligned with the Ad2 DNA sequence in the Ad2 E2 promoter region. If the heterogeneous termini in the E2 promoter region were generated by a process of transcription initiation, their existence cannot be explained by stuttering of RNA polymerase II. This suggests that the transcription of Ad early region 2 has features which differ from those of other Ad2 early gene transcription units. Perhaps this is due to the absence of a conventional TATA box which is believed to position the initiation site. Alternatively, it is conceivable that the E2 promoter represents an alternate class of RNA polymerase II promoters containing different signals with different requirements for activation and/or that an E1A gene product modifies transcription initiation.
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PMID:Unusual heterogeneity of the 5'-termini of human adenovirus type 2 early region E2 mRNA. 608 49

The major 5'-termini of human adenovirus type 2 early gene block 4 mRNA were sequenced. Poly(A+) polyribosomal RNA was isolated from Ad2 early infected cells, the 5'-terminal m7GPPP removed and the 5'-OH of the penultimate 2'-0-methylated nucleotide labeled with [gamma-32P]ATP using polynucleotide kinase. Ad2 E4 mRNA was purified by hybridization to the Ad2 EcoRI-C fragment and was digested with RNase T1. The resulting oligonucleotides were resolved by two dimensional paper electrophoresis-homochromatography. Four major and 3-4 minor 5'-terminal sequences were identified and characterized. The sequence of the 5'-terminal structures of the major four termini are: (1) m7GpppUmU(m)UUACACUGp, (2) m7GpppUmU(m)UACACUGp, (3) m7GpppUmU(m)ACACUGp, and (4) m7Gppp(m6)AmC(m)ACUGp. These major 5'-terminal sequences were aligned with nucleotide 325, 326, 327, and 329 from the righthand end of the known Ad2 DNA sequence (1) in the region mapped as the 5'-terminus of E4 mRNA by electron microscopy (2,3) and S1 nuclease-gel (4) mapping. Two potential ribosomal binding sites and an initiator codon were found at 40 to 65 nucleotides and about 80 nucleotides, respectively, from these heterogenous 5'-termini. Ad2 E4 major mRNA species appear to be unique since mRNA molecules initiate at a pyrimidine, perhaps by RNA polymerase stuttering, or they are products of an unusual type of RNA processing.
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PMID:Nucleotide sequences and mapping of novel heterogenous 5'-termini of adenovirus 2 early region 4 mRNA. 616 92

One of the potential regulatory steps in procaryotic transcription is promoter clearance, a transition step in transcription initiation at which an RNA polymerase (RNAP) switches from the initial transcribing stage to the elongation stage. The biological significance of promoter clearance and the role of RNAP in this process are not understood. One approach to address these questions is to study mutant RNAPs that have altered promoter clearance. Because the antibiotic rifampicin inhibits transcription by preventing an initial transcribing complex from entering the elongation mode, mutant RNAPs which confer rifampicin (Rifr) are likely to be altered in promoter clearance. To test this hypothesis, we studied the effects of Rifr RNAPs on the pyrBI promoter, which is subject to control of promoter clearance in response to the availability of UTP. Two Rifr alleles that carry a different altered amino acid residue at position 529 of the beta subunit appeared to be defective in transcription from the pyrBI promoter in vivo. Biochemical analysis of one of these mutant RNAPs, RpoB3401 with a R529C change in the beta subunit, showed that it overproduces aborted initiation products from the pyrBI promoter and thus is defective in promoter clearance leading to reduced productive initiation. The severity of overproducing the aborted initiation products is an inverse function of the UTP concentration indicating that RpoB3401 has reduced affinity for UTP and thus is subject to a high Km barrier during promoter clearance. The defect of RpoB3401 in abortive initiation in vitro could account fully for its reduced initiation activity in vivo demonstrating the biological significance of abortive synthesis in transcription initiation. Our results indicate that at least part of the "rif region" is important for the process of abortive initiation and that promoter clearance can be regulated in part by modulating the Km of RNAP for nucleotides during initiation. The mutant enzyme is not altered in stuttering RNA synthesis at the pyrBI promoter, previously observed with wild-type RNAP. Our results also show that the mechanisms underlying the two non-productive initiation events (abortive synthesis and stuttering synthesis) at the pyrBI promoter are distinct.
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PMID:An Escherichia coli RNA polymerase defective in transcription due to its overproduction of abortive initiation products. 750 86

An intriguing mechanism in regulating transcription initiation from the gal operon in Escherichia coli is described. Initiation from galP2, one of the two promoters of the E. coli galactose operon, is shown to be subject to promoter clearance control in responding to changes in UTP concentration. In vitro, RNA polymerase (RNAP) makes a large amount of nonproductive "stuttering" initiation products at the galP2 promoter at high concentrations of UTP and less of the stuttered products at low concentrations of UTP. Conversely, RNAP makes more productive initiation products at low UTP concentration than at high UTP concentration. The transcription factor cAMP.CRP complex which normally inhibits transcription from galP2 also represses the stuttering synthesis from galP2. When galactose is used as a sole carbon source and the internal UTP pools are adjusted externally, a cya mutant (in which galP2 is mainly responsible for the expression of the gal operon and galP1 activity is minimal) has a slower growth rate and lower expression of the gal operon at high UTP pools than at low UTP pools. Such an apparent correlation between the in vitro and in vivo results allows one to speculate that changes in UTP concentration can modulate the expression of the gal operon. The implication of a gal promoter being controlled by UTP is discussed.
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PMID:Slippage synthesis at the galP2 promoter of Escherichia coli and its regulation by UTP concentration and cAMP.cAMP receptor protein. 751 34

Paramyxoviruses are thought to edit their P gene mRNAs co-transcriptionally, by a mechanism in which the polymerase stutters and reads the same template base more than once. Sendai virus (SeV) and bovine parainfluenza virus type 3 (bPIV3) are closely related viruses, but SeV edits its P gene mRNA with the insertion of a single G residue (at approximately 50% frequency) within the sequence 5' A6G3, whereas bPIV3 inserts 1 to approximately 6 Gs at roughly equal frequency within the sequence 5' A6G4. When SeV synthetic mini-genomes containing either SeV or bPIV3 P gene editing cassettes are expressed from cDNA in cells which are also transfected with the SeV NP, P and L genes, the virus-specific editing patterns were reproduced. Since the bPIV3 editing pattern was reproduced in a system that is otherwise completely SeV, this suggests that all the information for the virus-specific editing patterns is due to the RNA sequence itself. Unexpectedly, the length of the template C run was found to be critical, even though it varies from 3 to 7 nucleotides in length in different viruses. Expanding this template C run first led to attenuation of the insertion phenotype, and then to deletions rather than insertions. A stuttering or slippage model to account for these events has been further refined to include a pressure which displaces the nascent strand in a given direction once it has disengaged from the template, and the similarities of this model to those which account for readthrough of cellular RNA polymerase transcription blocks are discussed.
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PMID:Paramyxovirus mRNA editing leads to G deletions as well as insertions. 795 15

During transcription initiation from galP2, one of the two promoters of the Escherichia coli galactose operon with an initially transcribed sequence of pppAUUUC, RNA polymerase (RNAP) is known to engage nonproductive stuttering synthesis, which is sensitive to the concentration of UTP. This study examines the effect of this nonproductive synthesis on promoter clearance and determines other parameters that might affect stuttering synthesis by analyzing a mutant RNAP, RpoB3449, that has altered its function at this process at galP2. RpoB3449 has dramatically diminished stuttering synthesis, and consequently, it has increased the rate of productive initiation due to its enhanced rate of promoter clearance of galP2 compared with wild-type RNAP. Thus, a direct linkage between promoter clearance and productive transcription is demonstrated. The mechanism by which the mutant RNAP has altered the switch between nonproductive stuttering synthesis and productive initiation during promoter clearance is studied. Apparently, RpoB3449 has increased its efficiency in incorporating CTP at the +5 position of the galP2 transcript leading to its reduced stuttering synthesis, indicating that the rate of an RNAP incorporating the CTP after a stretch of uridine residues is important for promoter clearance at galP2. Because RpoB3449 demonstrates "wild-type" stuttering synthesis at the mutant galP2 promoter, which contains the 6 residue at the +5 position, it indicates that the mutant RNAP has altered in binding CTP at this context. Further experiments indicate that it is the +5 position per se of the galP2 sequence rather than a particular nucleotide at that position that is critical in determining the switch between the two alternate pathways during transcription initiation. A checkpoint model for the switch between nonproductive and productive initiations during promoter clearance is discussed.
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PMID:A mutant RNA polymerase reveals a kinetic mechanisms for the switch between nonproductive stuttering synthesis and productive initiation during promoter clearance. 866 41

We have analyzed the elongation properties of vaccinia virus RNA polymerase during a single round of transcription in vitro. RNA-labeled ternary complexes were halted at a unique template position located upstream of a T-run (TTTTTTTTT) in the nontemplate strand; this element encodes an RNA signal for factor-dependent transcription termination at distal sites on the template. The halted ternary complexes were purified and allowed to resume elongation under a variety of conditions. We found that the T-run constituted a strong elongation block, even at high nucleotide concentrations. The principal sites of pausing were at a C position situated two nucleotides upstream of the first T in the T-run and at the first three to four T positions within the T-run. There was relatively little pausing at the five downstream Ts. Intrinsic pausing was exacerbated at suboptimal nucleotide concentrations. Ternary complexes arrested by the T-run at 10 microM NTPs rapidly traversed the T-run when the NTP pool was increased to 1 mM. Limiting GTP (1 microM) resulted in polymerase stuttering at the 3' margin of the T-run, immediately prior to a templated G position; this generated a ladder of slippage synthesis products. We found that vaccinia ternary complexes remained intact after elongating to the very end of a linear DNA template and that such complexes catalyzed the addition of extra nucleotides to the 3' end of the RNA chain. The 3' end addition required much higher concentrations of NTPs than did templated chain elongation. Finally, we report that factor-dependent transcription termination by vaccinia RNA polymerase downstream of the T-run was affected by nucleotide concentration. Limiting UTP caused the polymerase to terminate at sites closer to the UUUUUNU termination signal. This is consistent with the kinetic coupling model for factor-dependent termination.
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PMID:Elongation properties of vaccinia virus RNA polymerase: pausing, slippage, 3' end addition, and termination site choice. 939 22

The minus-strand genome of Sendai virus is an assembly of the nucleocapsid protein (N) and RNA, in which each N subunit is associated with precisely 6 nt. Only genomes that are a multiple of 6 nt long replicate efficiently or are found naturally, and their replication promoters contain sequence elements with hexamer repeats. Paramyxoviruses that are governed by this hexamer rule also edit their P gene mRNA during its synthesis, by G insertions, via a controlled form of viral RNA polymerase "stuttering" (pseudo-templated transcription). This stuttering is directed by a cis-acting sequence (3' UNN UUUUUU CCC), whose hexamer phase is conserved within each virus group. To determine whether the hexamer phase of a given nucleotide sequence within nucleocapsids affected its sensitivity to chemical modification, and whether hexamer phase of the mRNA editing site was important for the editing process, we prepared a matched set of viruses in which a model editing site was displaced 1 nt at a time relative to the genome ends. The relative abilities of these Sendai viruses to edit their mRNAs in cell culture infections were examined, and the ability of DMS to chemically modify the nucleotides of this cis-acting signal within resting viral nucleocapsids was also studied. Cytidines at hexamer phases 1 and 6 were the most accessible to chemical modification, whereas mRNA editing was most extensive when the stutter-site C was in positions 2 to 5. Apparently, the N subunit imprints the nucleotide sequence it is associated with, and affects both the initiation of viral RNA synthesis and mRNA editing. The N-subunit assembly thus appears to superimpose another code upon the genetic code.
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PMID:Chemical modification of nucleotide bases and mRNA editing depend on hexamer or nucleoprotein phase in Sendai virus nucleocapsids. 1221 49


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