Heterogeneity of RNA polymerase in Escherichia coli. II. Polyadenylate-polyuridylate synthesis by holoenzyme II

Template-independent poly(A) x poly(U) synthesizing activity of different forms of Bacillus subtilis RNA polymerase

Several, but not all, forms of bacillus subtilis RNA polymerase found in vegetative and sporulating cells can synthesize poly(A) x poly(U) in vitro. The vegetative delta-containing form of RNA polymerase (E delta) has little or no poly(A) x poly(U)-synthesizing activity, whereas RNA polymerase core (E) and sigma-containing core (E delta) both have significant activity. When purified vegetative delta factor was added to core, the core synthetic activity was reduced essentially to that of the vegetative enzyme E delta. When E sigma enzymes from vegetative and sporulating cells were compared for their salt sensitivity, it was found that the sporulation enzyme E sigma retained much more of its activity at 0.1 M KCl than the vegetative enzyme E sigma. Furthermore, when sporulation enzyme E delta 1 was compared with vegetative enzyme E sigma, it was found that the activity of the E sigma 1 form was much more resistant to high KCl concentrations than that of the vegetative E sigma form. These differences in enzyme activity, as affected by salt concentrations, suggest that the conformations of the sporulation E sigma and E delta 1 enzymes are different from that found in vegetative E sigma enzyme. These differences in conformation may be involved in selective gene expression during sporularion.

Release of template restriction in chromatin by nuclear 4.5s RNA

The stimulatory mechanism of RNA synthesis of calf-thymus chromatin by nuclear 4.5 S RNA from the homologous tissue was investigated by using exogenously added Escherichia coli RNA polymerase. The RNA synthesis was initiated at low concentration of salt, and then the chain elongation was achieved at high concentration of ammonium sulfate in the presence of polyvinyl sulfate. Under these conditions the number of binding sites of RNA polymerase on chromatin which were capable of initiating RNA chain was increased by the addition of the 4.5 S RNA. This stimulation was presumed to result from the release of template restriction in chromatin. The polyvinyl salt minimized ribonuclease activity without changing the RNA polymerase activity bound to the template. Neither rearrangement nor release of chromatin proteins affected the amount or size of RNA produced. Preliminary analysis suggested that the molecular species of RNA produced upon the addition of the 4.5 S RNA from various tissues seemed to be heterologous.

Conversion of Escherichia coli RNA polymerase to a template independent enzyme

Preparations of RNA polymerase (E.C.2.7.7.6) from uninfected Escherichia coli, T4 infected Escherichia coli, and Acinetobacter calcoaceticus when centrifuged in sucrose gradients in the absence of magnesium ions gave rise to five peaks, all of which were able to form polymers from ribonucleoside 5'-triphosphates in the absence of template or primer. All of the peaks obtained from the Escherichia coli enzyme appeared to contain the subunit alpha and beta and, in addition, polypeptides which appeared to be derived from the subunit beta.

Peptide analysis of RNA polymerase alpha subunit from Escherichia coli: comparison of free with assembled form

The analysis of tryptic peptides was performed on the unassembled as well as assembled form f alpha subunit of the DNA-dependent RNA polymerase from Escherichia coli. The peptide profiles obtained by Dowex 50 column chromatography of the unassembled alpha subunit prepared from cells, either pulse-labeled or continuously labeled with radioactive lysine or arginine, were essentially identical with those of the alpha subunit from intact RNA polymerase. The results suggest that newly synthesized free alpha subunit is assembled into the polymerase structure without any remarkable modifications. The number of lysine- and arginine-containing peaks were close to the values expected from the amino acid composition of alpha subunit assuming that the two alpha subunits in RNA polymerase core enzyme have identical primary structure.

Preparations and properties of ribonucleic acid polymerase from Acinetobacter calcoaceticus

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)-dependent ribonucleic acid (RNA) polymerase (EC 2.7.7.6) from Acinetobacter calcoaceticus was purified to apparent homogeneity and its properties were compared with those of the Escherichia coli B enzyme. The molecular weights of the two native active enzymes as well as their alpha and beta subunits appeared to be similar. No subunit corresponding to that of sigma from E. coli was found, and furthermore no separation between the beta subunits could be detected by gel electrophoresis. A number of different DNAs were transcribed by the enzyme from A. calcoaceticus. Maximal RNA synthesis occurred at pH 8.7, 10 mM Mg2+, or 0.3 mM Mn2+ and at a total ionic strength of 0.1. Higher ionic strengths led to increasing inhibition of transcription and at mu = 0.4 complete inhibition was observed. The mechanism of inhibition of salt was not related to the initiation event as observed with T4 core RNA polymerase (R.Kleppe, 1975). In an attempt to understand the mechanism of inhibition by salt, the effect of ionic strength on the sedimentation properties of the enzyme was investigated. At low ionic strength, enzyme species with sedimentation coefficients, s20,w, of 5.8S, 12.4S, and 19.3S were present. In buffers with higher ionic strengths the relative amounts of the 12.4S species decreased. It is suggested, therefore, that the inhibition of activity at higher salt concentrations is caused by a decrease in concentration of the active enzyme species.

Substrate-binding ability of Escherichia coli ribonucleic acid polymerase in relation to its protein composition

Interaction between Escherichia coli RNA polymerase and its substrates, the nucleoside triphosphates, was studied by gel-filtration and dialysis-rate-measurement techniques. 2. The holoenzyme bound variable amounts of ATP and GTP. There was no correlation between substrate-binding ability and enzyme activity of different enzyme preparations. 3. The core enzyme bound a maximum of 0.1 mol of ATP/mol of enzyme. The dissociation constant of this interaction was of the order of 1 X 10(-5)M. The core enzyme did not bind GTP. 4. A protein of mol.wt. 60000, which was eluted in the first fraction during phosphocellulose column chromatography of the holoenzyme, bound appreciable amounts of ATP. The dissociation constant of this interaction was of the order of 3 X 10(-5)-5 X 10(-6)M. 5. Evidence presented shows that this protein, and not the sigma factor, is responsible for the observed variation in the ATP-binding ability of the holoenzyme.

Isolation and properties of the transcription complex of Escherichia coli RNA polymerase

A procedure is described which permits complete separation of a transcription complex formed with template DNA, growing RNA chain and functioning RNA polymerase, from RNA polymerase molecules which have bound to DNA but not initiated RNA synthesis. The method is based on the marked stability of the transcription complex to dissociation by high concentrations of CsCl or CS2SO4 which enable banding the complex after equilibrium centrifugation. With use of the newly developed procedure, affinity of Escherichia coli RNA polymerase to T7 phage DNA was found to increase during initiation of RNA synthesis but then decrease concomitant with elongation of RNA chain presumably due to migration of the enzyme to DNA sites of weak affinity. Under the conditions of maximum affinity, the transcription complex contained one core polymerase for each T7 DNA if it was isolated by centrifugation in CsCl; in contrast, 2-6 enzyme molecules remained attached on the complex when the centrifugation was carried out in Cs2SO4. Thus, RNA polymerases bound to different sites of transcription initiation appear to be distinguished based on the affinity of interaction. Attempts are also described to isolate the transcription complex in vivo by Cs2SO4 centrifugation by Brij 58-deoxycholate lysate of lysozyme-treated Escherichia coli cells. The isolated complex contained approx. 50 polymerase molecules per Escherichia coli genome as well as other unidentified proteins.