Genes and Development

Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Ross, W.
Right arrow Articles by Gourse, R. L.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Ross, W.
Right arrow Articles by Gourse, R. L.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati  
What's this?

Vol. 17, No. 10, pp. 1293-1307, May 15, 2003

RESEARCH PAPER
An intersubunit contact stimulating transcription initiation by E. coli RNA polymerase: interaction of the alpha  C-terminal domain and sigma  region 4

Wilma Ross, David A. Schneider, Brian J. Paul, Aaron Mertens, and Richard L. Gourse1

Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA

The C-terminal domain of the Escherichia coli RNA polymerase (RNAP) alpha subunit (alpha CTD) stimulates transcription initiation by interacting with upstream (UP) element DNA and a variety of transcription activators. Here we identify specific substitutions in region 4.2 of sigma 70 (sigma 70) and in alpha CTD that decrease transcription initiation from promoters containing some, but not all, UP elements. This decrease in transcription derives from a decrease in the initial equilibrium constant for RNAP binding (KB). The open complexes formed by the mutant and wild-type RNAPs differ in DNAse I sensitivity at the junction of the alpha CTD and sigma  DNA binding sites, correlating with the differences in transcription. A model of the DNA-alpha CTD-sigma region 4.2 ternary complex, constructed from the previously determined X-ray structures of the Thermus aquaticus sigma  region 4.2-DNA complex and the E. coli alpha CTD-DNA complex, indicates that the residues identified by mutation in sigma  region 4.2 and in alpha CTD are in very close proximity. Our results strongly suggest that alpha CTD, when bound to an UP element proximal subsite, contacts the RNAP sigma 70 subunit, increasing transcription. Previous data from the literature suggest that this same sigma -alpha CTD interaction also plays a role in transcription factor-mediated activation.

[Keywords: RNA polymerase; promoter; UP element; alpha subunit; sigma subunit; transcription activation]

1 Corresponding author.

© 2003 by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press  ISSN 0890-9369/03 $5.00
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 J. Bacteriol.Home page
S. I. Husnain and M. S. Thomas
The UP Element Is Necessary but Not Sufficient for Growth Rate-Dependent Control of the Escherichia coli guaB Promoter
J. Bacteriol., April 1, 2008; 190(7): 2450 - 2457.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USAHome page
S. P. Haugen, W. Ross, M. Manrique, and R. L. Gourse
Fine structure of the promoter-{sigma} region 1.2 interaction
PNAS, March 4, 2008; 105(9): 3292 - 3297.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Bacteriol.Home page
S. Chen, M. Bagdasarian, M. G. Kaufman, A. K. Bates, and E. D. Walker
Mutational Analysis of the ompA Promoter from Flavobacterium johnsoniae
J. Bacteriol., July 15, 2007; 189(14): 5108 - 5118.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Nucleic Acids ResHome page
B. Kedzierska, A. Szambowska, A. Herman-Antosiewicz, D. J. Lee, S. J.W. Busby, G. Wegrzyn, and M. S. Thomas
The C-terminal domain of the Escherichia coli RNA polymerase {alpha} subunit plays a role in the CI-dependent activation of the bacteriophage {lambda} pM promoter
Nucleic Acids Res., April 1, 2007; 35(7): 2311 - 2320.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Bacteriol.Home page
L. Shen, X. Feng, Y. Yuan, X. Luo, T. P. Hatch, K. T. Hughes, J. S. Liu, and Y.-x. Zhang
Selective Promoter Recognition by Chlamydial {sigma}28 Holoenzyme
J. Bacteriol., November 1, 2006; 188(21): 7364 - 7377.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USAHome page
K. J. Newberry, S. Nakano, P. Zuber, and R. G. Brennan
Crystal structure of the Bacillus subtilis anti-alpha, global transcriptional regulator, Spx, in complex with the {alpha} C-terminal domain of RNA polymerase
PNAS, November 1, 2005; 102(44): 15839 - 15844.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Bacteriol.Home page
O. V. Kourennaia, L. Tsujikawa, and P. L. deHaseth
Mutational Analysis of Escherichia coli Heat Shock Transcription Factor Sigma 32 Reveals Similarities with Sigma 70 in Recognition of the -35 Promoter Element and Differences in Promoter DNA Melting and -10 Recognition
J. Bacteriol., October 1, 2005; 187(19): 6762 - 6769.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USAHome page
B. Sclavi, E. Zaychikov, A. Rogozina, F. Walther, M. Buckle, and H. Heumann
From The Cover: Real-time characterization of intermediates in the pathway to open complex formation by Escherichia coli RNA polymerase at the T7A1 promoter
PNAS, March 29, 2005; 102(13): 4706 - 4711.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USAHome page
B. E. Nickels, S. J. Garrity, V. Mekler, L. Minakhin, K. Severinov, R. H. Ebright, and A. Hochschild
The interaction between {sigma}70 and the {beta}-flap of Escherichia coli RNA polymerase inhibits extension of nascent RNA during early elongation
PNAS, March 22, 2005; 102(12): 4488 - 4493.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USAHome page
C. A. Davis, M. W. Capp, M. T. Record Jr, and R. M. Saecker
The effects of upstream DNA on open complex formation by Escherichia coli RNA polymerase
PNAS, January 11, 2005; 102(2): 285 - 290.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USAHome page
W. Ross and R. L. Gourse
Sequence-independent upstream DNA-{alpha}CTD interactions strongly stimulate Escherichia coli RNA polymerase-lacUV5 promoter association
PNAS, January 11, 2005; 102(2): 291 - 296.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Nucleic Acids ResHome page
M. T. Marr, J. W. Roberts, S. E. Brown, M. Klee, and G. N. Gussin
Interactions among CII protein, RNA polymerase and the {lambda} PRE promoter: contacts between RNA polymerase and the -35 region of PRE are identical in the presence and absence of CII protein
Nucleic Acids Res., February 10, 2004; 32(3): 1083 - 1090.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Nucleic Acids ResHome page
B. Kedzierska, D. J. Lee, G. Wegrzyn, S. J. W. Busby, and M. S. Thomas
Role of the RNA polymerase {alpha} subunits in CII-dependent activation of the bacteriophage {lambda} pE promoter: identification of important residues and positioning of the {alpha} C-terminal domains
Nucleic Acids Res., February 3, 2004; 32(2): 834 - 841.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Biol. Chem.Home page
D. J. Lee, S. J. W. Busby, and G. S. Lloyd
Exploitation of a Chemical Nuclease to Investigate the Location and Orientation of the Escherichia coli RNA Polymerase {alpha} Subunit C-terminal Domains at Simple Promoters That Are Activated by Cyclic AMP Receptor Protein
J. Biol. Chem., December 26, 2003; 278(52): 52944 - 52952.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
Genome Res. Learn. Mem.
Protein Science RNA Genes Dev.