DNA-dependent RNA polymerase C from Xenopus laevis ovaries: formation of stable heparin-resistant DNA-binding complexes

The effect of tea tree oil and antifungal agents on a reporter for yeast cell integrity signalling

Cell integrity in Saccharomyces cerevisiae is ensured by a rigid cell wall whose synthesis is controlled by a highly conserved MAP kinase signal transduction cascade. Stress at the cell surface is detected by a set of sensors and ultimately transmitted through this cascade to the transcription factor Rlm1, which governs expression of many genes encoding enzymes of cell wall biosynthesis. We here report on a number of versatile reporter constructs which link activation of a hybrid, Rlm1-lexA, by the MAP kinase Mpk1/Slt2 to the expression of the bacterial lacZ gene. This system was adapted to automated microwell screening and shown to be activated by a number of compounds inhibiting cell wall biosynthesis or interfering with plasma membrane function. In addition, we tested tea tree oil and two of its purified constituents (alpha-terpineol, terpinen-4-ol) for their effects on growth and on cell integrity signalling using such reporter strains. Tea tree oil was found to inhibit growth of wild-type and slg1/wsc1 mutant cells at a threshold of approximately 0.1% v/v, with the purified compounds acting already at half these concentrations. A mid2 deletion displayed hyper-resistance. Tea tree oil also induces the signalling pathway in a dose-dependent manner.

Purification of a cytosolic factor from rat liver that stimulates transcription in isolated nuclei and its action on purified RNA polymerase II-DNA system

A cytosolic factor that stimulates transcription in isolated nuclei was purified approximately 4000-fold to near homogeneity from rat liver. The molecular weight of the factor was determined as 47 000 by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The factor had no detectable deoxyribonuclease and protease activity but showed ribonuclease inhibitor activity. The factor could stimulate transcription in isolated nuclei by 50% at about 3.0 ng and the maximal stimulation was about 100%. When [gamma-S]ATP and [gamma-S]GTP were included in the reaction, the factor stimulated the synthesis of RNA which was able to bind to a mercury-Sepharose column and about 80% of the bound RNA was sensitive to a low concentration of alpha-amanitin. When heparin was added before initiation to preincubation mixture containing RNA polymerases II and DNA, a small but definite incorporation of [14C]UTP was observed. The factor alone had no stimulatory effect on the heparin-resistant incorporation of [14C]UTP but, in the presence of two rat liver nuclear fractions, phosphocellulose 0.5 and 1 M KCl step fractions, could stimulate the incorporation above the level with the combination of the two nuclear fractions. Antibody raised against the factor inhibited accurate transcription from the adenovirus 2 major late promoter in a nuclear lysate from Ehrlich ascites tumor cells, and the inhibition was neutralized by the factor.

In vitro transcription by wheat germ ribonucleic acid polymerase II: effects of heparin and role of template integrity

Double-stranded deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) from bacteriophage lambda is a good template for wheat germ DNA-dependent ribonucleic acid (RNA) polymerase II. We delineated conditions for obtaining maximum polymerase activity using as template both the relatively intact DNA extracted from the the lambda phage and DNA into which single-strand nicks have been introduced by deoxyribonuclease (DNase) I digestion. The deliberate introduction of nicks produces a modest increase in transcription. The NaCl and MgCl2 optima are broader with the nicked template, so that higher concentrations of these salts are needed before polymerase activity begins to decline. Heparin inhibits initiation but not elongation by wheat germ polymerase. Polymerase can be protected against heparin inhibition by forming binary complexes with the template. The formation of these complexes is reduced at low temperature. The complexes, once formed, decay in the presence of heparin with a half-life of 10--20 min. The number of complexes is highly dependent on the degree of nicking of the template, suggesting that single-strand nicks are the predominant type of site where these heparin-resistant complexes are formed. Our data do not allow us to decide whether or not the presence of nicks plays as decisive a role in the absence of heparin.

Transcription in vitro of adenovirus-2 DNA by RNA polymerases class C purified from uninfected and adenovirus-infected HeLa cells

DNA-dependent RNA polymerase class C (or III) has been solubilized from either uninfected or adenovirus-2-infected HeLa cells and purified by chromatography on phosphocellulose, DNA-cellulose, CM-Sephadex and DEAE-Sephadex. The last column separated the enzyme into three forms CI, CII and CIII, which were completely free of RNA polymerases class A and B and of DNase and RNase. The total and the relative amount of these different enzyme C forms did not vary whether purified from uninfected or infected cells. Irrespective of the stage of purification, the three enzyme forms transcribed deproteinized adenovirus-2DNA very efficiently. This transcription was highly sensitive to elevated ionic strength (especially in the presence of Mg2+) and was accompanied by continuous reinitiation as shown by adding poly(rI), a potent inhibitor of initiation. In addition heparin-resistant initiation complexes could be formed at elevated temperature. The RNA synthesized in vitro on deproteinized intact adenovirus-2 DNA by the different forms of RNA polymerase class C, has been characterized. Analysis of the transcripts by gel electrophoresis, RNA self-annealing, hybridization to separated adenovirus-2 DNA strands and to restriction endonuclease (BamHI, HindIII), adenovirus-2 DNA fragments have demonstrated that restriction endonuclease (BamHI, HindIII), adenovirus-2 DNA fragments have demonstrated that the various regions of the adenovirus-2 genome were randomly transcribed. In addition, hybridization of RNA transcripts labelled at their 5' end by either [gamma32P]ATP or [gamma-32P]GTP indicated that not only elongation but also initiation occurred randomly through the entire adenovirus-2 genome, irrespective of the form of the enzyme and of the origin of the cells (normal or infected). The results are discussed in terms of the components which are possibly involved in specific transcription.