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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)

When bacteriophage lambdapga18 DNA is transcribed in a purified in vitro system by E. coli RNA polymerase (nucleoside triphosphate: RNA nucleotidyl-transferase, EC 2.7.7.6), several major transcripts are synthesized. We have investigated transcriptional termination of one of these transcripts, the 4S, or "oop" RNA. Analysis by two-dimensional "fingerprinting" of T1 oligonucleotides reveals that transcription of the 4S RNA terminates at a specific site on the lambdapga18 DNA template, t-L with an efficiency of approximately 80%, i.e. 20% of transcripts are extended into larger RNAs. Addition of the E. coli protein rho to our transcription reactions has two effects: a) the efficiency of termination at the t-L site is increased to 100%; b) the number of 4S transcripts synthesized is increased by greater than 5-fold. Rho appears to stimulate 4S RNA synthesis by facilitating more rapid release of RNA polymerase from the t-L' termination site.
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PMID:Transcription in vitro of bacteriophage lambda 4S RNA: studies on termination and rho protein. 32 26

The rho protein of Escherichia coli interacts with the nascent RNA transcript while RNA polymerase is paused at specific rho-dependent termination sites on the DNA template, and (in a series of steps that are still largely undefined) brings about transcript termination at these sites. In this paper we characterize the interactions of rho with RNA and relate these interactions to the quaternary structure of the functional form of rho. We use CD spectroscopy and analytical ultracentrifugation to determine the binding interactions of rho with RNA ligands of defined length ([rC]n where n > or = 6). Rho binds to long RNA chains as a hexamer characterized by D3 symmetry. Each hexamer binds approximately 70 residues of RNA. We show by ultracentrifugation and dynamic laser light scattering that, in the presence of RNA ligands less than 22 nucleotide residues in length, rho changes its quaternary structure and becomes a homogeneous dodecamer. The dodecamer contains six strong binding sites for short RNA ligands: i.e., one site for every two rho protomers. The measured association constant of these short RNAs to rho increases with increasing (rC)n length, up to n = 9, suggesting that the binding site of each rho protomer interacts with 9 RNA nucleotide residues. Oligo (rC) ligands bound to the strong RNA binding sites on the rho dodecamer do not significantly stimulate the RNA-dependent ATPase activity of rho. Based on these features of the rho-RNA interaction and other experimental data we propose a molecular model of the interaction of rho with its cofactors.
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PMID:Functional interactions of ligand cofactors with Escherichia coli transcription termination factor rho. II. Binding of RNA. 128 80

The genes for the beta (rpoB) and beta' (rpoC) subunits of Escherichia coli RNA polymerase are the distal members of a complex transcriptional unit that contains four upstream ribosomal protein genes. The RNA polymerase subunit genes are transcribed at a lower frequency than the ribosomal protein genes as a result of termination at an attenuator preceding rpoB. A purified in vitro transcription system was developed using linear DNA templates that carry the attenuator. The ability of known termination and antitermination proteins to modulate termination at the attenuator was tested. Both NusA and NusG increase the frequency of transcriptional readthrough at the attenuator whereas NusB, S10, and Rho had no significant effect in this system.
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PMID:The NusA and NusG proteins of Escherichia coli increase the in vitro readthrough frequency of a transcriptional attenuator preceding the gene for the beta subunit of RNA polymerase. 137 Apr 74

Rho-independent terminators are characterized by two major functional regions, one upstream from the termination site having a sequence capable of forming an RNA hairpin in the nascent transcript, the second extending, from the base of this hairpin, seven to nine nucleotides along the transcript to the actual sites of termination (3'-tail region). This latter region of the transcript is often rich in uridine residues. Both regions are postulated to play central roles in the termination process. We have constructed a series of hybrid rho-independent, transcription terminators in which sequences upstream and downstream from the RNA hairpin for the Escherichia coli trp attenuator (trpatt+) are interchanged with sequences from trpatt mutant (1419) or from the phage T7 early terminator (T7Te). Similar hybrids have been constructed for T7Te, replacing flanking sequences with trpatt regions. The effects of such changes on transcription termination have been tested in vitro with purified E. coli RNA polymerase to determine the intrinsic termination efficiency (%T) of each hybrid terminator. Both the trpatt+ terminator and T7Te are highly efficient rho-independent terminators in vitro. However, replacement of trpatt+ sequences upstream and downstream from the RNA-terminator hairpin with the comparable T7Te sequences reduces %T dramatically, suggesting that the RNA-terminator hairpin does not function independently from its flanking regions. Regions downstream from the actual termination/release site are shown to be of considerable importance in determining %T for terminators bearing the T7Te or trpatt1419 3'-tail region, but have little effect on terminators with the trpatt+ 3'-tail region. For terminators bearing the T7Te or trpatt1419 3'-tail region that are inefficient, efficient termination is restored by elevated concentrations of KCl in the reaction. The results do not fit well with models for termination in which %T is determined by a two-step process in which the terminator-RNA hairpin, and a seven to 12 base-pair DNA-RNA hybrid structure rich in uridine residues, act independently to cause the polymerase to pause, and to release the transcript, respectively. DNA sequences both upstream and downstream from these regions, as well as DNA sequences downstream from the transcript termination site, can significantly affect the termination process. Conversely, terminators lacking a 3'-tail region rich in uridine residues can be highly efficient, but only when joined with appropriate sequence immediately downstream from the termination site. This suggests that the 3'-tail region acts in some manner other than the formation of an unstable DNA-RNA hybrid that facilitates termination.
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PMID:Parameters affecting transcription termination by Escherichia coli RNA. II. Construction and analysis of hybrid terminators. 137 66

The N protein of phage lambda prevents termination of transcription by Escherichia coli RNA polymerase at Rho-dependent and -independent terminators in the lambda early operons. The modification of RNA polymerase by N requires an N-utilization (nut) site, present in each lambda early operon, and involves the E. coli factors NusA, NusB, NusG, and ribosomal protein S10. We show that, in the presence of NusA, N inhibits pausing by RNA polymerase and Rho-dependent termination in vitro at three sites in the lambda terminator tR1 which are located less than 100 base pairs downstream from nutR. NusA is also sufficient for partial antitermination at sites located farther downstream from nutL and nutR if there is a high concentration of N in the reaction. At low concentrations of N, the additional factors NusB, S10, and NusG are essential for antitermination at distal sites. In these conditions, the presence of NusA, NusB, S10, and NusG in the reaction enables N-modified RNA polymerase to elongate efficiently and processively through Rho-dependent and -independent terminators over distances as great as 7 kilobases downstream from the lambda nut sites. This substantial processivity of antitermination in vitro also occurs in vivo and probably reflects the stable association of N, NusA, NusB, S10, and NusG with RNA polymerase and nut site RNA in elongation complexes transcribing the lambda chromosome.
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PMID:Host factor requirements for processive antitermination of transcription and suppression of pausing by the N protein of bacteriophage lambda. 138 70

The Escherichia coli Nus factors act in conjunction with the bacteriophage lambda N protein to suppress transcription termination on the lambda chromosome. NusA binds both N and RNA polymerase and may also interact with other Nus factors. To search for additional components of the N antitermination system, we isolated host revertants that restored N activity in nusA1 mutants. One revertant, nusG4, was mapped to the rif region of the E. coli chromosome and shown to represent a point mutation near the 3' end of the nusG gene. The nusG4 mutation also suppressed nusE71 but not nusASal, nusB5, nusC60 (rpoB60), or nusD026 (rho026). However, nusG+ expressed from a multicopy plasmid suppressed nusD026 and related rho mutants for both lambda and phage T4 growth. These results suggest that NusG may act as a component of the N antitermination complex. In addition, the data imply a role for NusG in Rho-dependent termination.
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PMID:Effect of Escherichia coli nusG function on lambda N-mediated transcription antitermination. 153 Dec 24

Transcript elongation and termination in Escherichia coli is modulated, in part, by the nusA gene product, an acidic protein that interacts not only with RNA polymerase itself but also with ancillary factors, namely the host termination protein Rho and phage lambda antitermination protein, N. The E. coli nusA1 mutant fails to support lambda development due to a specific defect in N-mediated antitermination. Certain rifampicin-resistant (rifR) variants of the nusA1 host support lambda growth. We report here the isolation and pleiotropic properties of one such rifR mutant, ts8, resulting from a single amino acid substitution mutation in rpoB, the structural gene for polymerase beta subunit. ts8 is a recessive lethal mutation that blocks cell growth at 42 degrees. Pulse-labeling and analysis of newly synthesized proteins indicate that the mutant cell is proficient in RNA synthesis at high temperature. Apparently, ts8 causes a loss of some specialized function of RNA polymerase without a gross defect in general transcription activities. ts8 is an allele-specific suppressor of nusA1. It does not suppress nusAsal, nusB5 and nusE71 mutations nor does it bypass the requirement for a functional N gene and the nut site for antitermination and lambda growth. A mutation in the N gene, punA1, that restores lambda growth in the nusA1 mutant host but not in the nusAsal host, compensates for the nusAsal allele in the ts8 mutant. This combined effect of two allele-specific suppressors suggests that they enhance some aspect of polymerase-NusA-N interaction and function. ts8 suppresses the rho15 mutation, but not the rho112 mutation, indicating that it might render RNA polymerase susceptible to the action of a defective Rho protein. Marker rescue analysis has localized ts8 to a 910-bp internal segment of rpoB that encodes the Rif domain. By amplification, cloning and sequencing of this segment of the mutant chromosome we have determined that ts8 contains Phe in place of Ser522, caused by a C to T transition. By gene conversion, we have established that the simultaneous gain and loss of three functions of polymerase is caused by this single amino acid substitution. Clearly, a site in the beta subunit critical for the functioning of both termination and antitermination factors is altered by ts8. The alteration, we imagine, might make this site on polymerase receptive to some factors but repulsive to others.
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PMID:Simultaneous gain and loss of functions caused by a single amino acid substitution in the beta subunit of Escherichia coli RNA polymerase: suppression of nusA and rho mutations and conditional lethality. 155 68

Rho-independent transcriptional terminators in Escherichia coli usually consist of a GC-rich region encoding a sequence which allows the nascent transcript to form a stem-loop structure, and thereby apparently causes the RNA polymerase to pause; followed by an A-rich region on the DNA template strand, whose weak pairing to the consequently U-rich 3'-tail of the transcript is believed to aid release of the RNA. Quite commonly there is additional symmetry encoding, in the RNA, an A-rich sequence complementary to the 'tail', just upstream of the GC-rich motif. It has been pointed out by others that this should allow the termination of transcription in both directions. We hypothesized that it might also increase the efficiency of termination, for example by competing with the template DNA strand so as to help 'unzip' the 3'-end of the RNA from its complementary DNA. We have tested this hypothesis by deletion analysis of the hypersymmetric alpha-operon terminator, tL17. The results show that efficiency as well as bidirectionality is indeed adversely affected by deletion of the upstream A-rich sequence.
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PMID:Hypersymmetry in a transcriptional terminator of Escherichia coli confers increased efficiency as well as bidirectionality. 158 23

Rho-dependent terminators constitute one of two major classes of terminators in Escherichia coli. Termination at these sites requires the concerted action of RNA polymerase and rho protein. We present evidence that the efficiency of termination at these sites is governed by kinetic coupling of the rate of transcription of RNA polymerase and the rate of action of rho protein. Termination experiments in vitro indicate that termination efficiency at a rho-dependent terminator is an inverse function of the rate of elongation of RNA polymerase, and each of the mutant phenotypes can be accounted for by the altered rate of elongation of the mutant RNA polymerase. Experiments in vivo show that fast-moving mutant RNA polymerases are termination deficient, while slow-moving mutant RNA polymerases are termination proficient and can suppress the termination deficiency of a slow-acting mutant rho protein. Because of the close coupling of rho action with RNA polymerase, small changes in the elongation rate of RNA polymerase can have very large effects on termination efficiency, providing the cell with a powerful way to modulate termination at rho-dependent terminators.
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PMID:Termination efficiency at rho-dependent terminators depends on kinetic coupling between RNA polymerase and rho. 174 99

Mu transcription occurs in three phases: early, middle, and late. Middle transcription occurs in the region of the C gene, which encodes the transactivator for late transcription. A middle promoter, Pm, was previously localized between 0.28 and 1.2 kilobase pairs upstream of C. We used S1 nuclease mapping with both unlabeled and radiolabeled capped RNAs from induced lysogens to characterize C transcription and identify its promoter. The C transcription initiation site was localized to a 4-base-pair region, approximately 740 base pairs upstream of C within the region containing Pm. Transcription of C was activated between 4 and 8 min after induction of cts and Cam lysogens and increased throughout the lytic cycle. Significant C transcription did not occur in replication-defective Aam lysogens. These kinetic and regulatory characteristics identify the C transcript as a middle RNA species and demonstrate that Pm is the C promoter. DNA sequence analysis of the Pm region showed a good -10, but poor -35, site homology to the Escherichia coli RNA polymerase consensus sequence. In addition, the sequence demonstrated that C is the distal gene in a middle operon containing several open reading frames. S1 mapping also showed an upstream transcript with a 3' end in the Pm region at a sequence strongly resembling a Rho-independent terminator. The regulatory characteristics of this RNA are consistent with this terminator, t9.2, being the early operon terminator.
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PMID:Characterization of the C operon transcript of bacteriophage Mu. 213 35


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