Transcription-termination factor Rho from Bacills subtilis

Autogenous regulation of transcription termination factor Rho and the requirement for Nus factors in Bacillus subtilis

The expression and activity of transcription termination factor Rho and the requirement for transcription elongation factors NusA and NusG was investigated in Bacillus subtilis. Rho was present at < 5% of the level found in Escherichia coli, but Rho factors from these two bacteria had similar properties as RNA-activated ATPases and in vitro termination of transcription on the lambda tR1 terminator. The B. subtilis rho gene was autoregulated at the level of transcription; autoregulation required sequences within the rho mRNA leader region and gene. To date, the B. subtilis rho is the only gene from a Gram-positive bacterium found to be regulated by Rho. Rho was not involved in bulk mRNA decay in B. subtilis. The E. coli elongation factors NusA and NusG target Rho, and the importance of these proteins in B. subtilis was examined by gene disruption. The B. subtilis NusG was inessential for both the viability and the autoregulation of Rho, whereas NusA was essential, and the requirement for NusA was independent of Rho. This contrasts with E. coli in which NusG is essential but NusA becomes dispensable if Rho terminates transcription less efficiently.

Phylogenetic analysis of sequences from diverse bacteria with homology to the Escherichia coli rho gene

Genes from Pseudomonas fluorescens, Chromatium vinosum, Micrococcus luteus, Deinococcus radiodurans, and Thermotoga maritima with homology to the Escherichia coli rho gene were cloned and sequenced, and their sequences were compared with other available sequences. The species for all of the compared sequences are members of five bacterial phyla, including Thermotogales, the most deeply diverged phylum. This suggests that a rho-like gene is ubiquitous in the Bacteria and was present in their common ancestor. The comparative analysis revealed that the Rho homologs are highly conserved, exhibiting a minimum identity of 50% of their amino acid residues in pairwise comparisons. The ATP-binding domain had a particularly high degree of conservation, consisting of some blocks with sequences of residues that are very similar to segments of the alpha and beta subunits of F1-ATPase and of other blocks with sequences that are unique to Rho. The RNA-binding domain is more diverged than the ATP-binding domain. However, one of its most highly conserved segments includes a RNP1-like sequence, which is known to be involved in RNA binding. Overall, the degree of similarity is lowest in the first 50 residues (the first half of the RNA-binding domain), in the putative connector region between the RNA-binding and the ATP-binding domains, and in the last 50 residues of the polypeptide. Since functionally defective mutants for E. coli Rho exist in all three of these segments, they represent important parts of Rho that have undergone adaptive evolution.

Characterization of the rho genes of Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Salmonella typhimurium

We have cloned and sequenced the genomic regions encompassing the rho genes of Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Salmonella typhimurium. Rho factor of S. typhimurium has only three amino acid differences with respect to the Escherichia coli homolog. Northern (RNA) blots and primer extension experiments were used to characterize the N. gonorrhoeae rho transcript and to identify the transcription initiation and termination elements of this cistron. The function of the Rho factor of N. gonorrhoeae was investigated by complementation assays of rho mutants of E. coli and S. typhimurium and by in vivo transcription assays in polar mutants of S. typhimurium.

Identification of a putative Bacillus subtilis rho gene

Transposon Tn917 mutagenesis of Bacillus subtilis BD99 followed by selection for protonophore resistance led to the isolation of strain MS119, which contained a single Tn917 insertion in an open reading frame whose deduced amino acid sequence was 56.6% identical to that of the Escherichia coli rho gene product. The insertional site was near the beginning of the open reading frame, which was located in a region of the B. subtilis chromosome near the spoOF gene; new sequence data for several open reading frames surrounding the putative rho gene are presented. The predicted B. subtilis Rho protein would have 427 amino acids and a molecular weight of 48,628. The growth of the mutant strain was less than that of the wild type on defined medium at 30 degrees C. On yeast extract-supplemented medium, the growth of MS119 was comparable to that of the wild type on defined medium at 30 degrees C. On yeast extract-supplemented medium, the growth of MS119 was comparable to that of the wild type at 30 degrees C but was much slower at lower temperatures; sporulation occurred and competence was developed in cells of the mutant grown at 30 degrees C. To determine whether the protonophore resistance and sensitivity to low growth temperature resulted from the insertion, a chloramphenicol resistance cassette was inserted into the wild-type B. subtilis rho gene of strain BD170; the resulting derivative displayed the same phenotype as MS119.

Efficient utilization of Escherichia coli transcriptional signals in Bacillus subtilis

Using purified sigma 55 RNA polymerase from Bacillus subtilis in an in vitro transcription system, we have shown that both promoters and terminators of Gram negative origin are recognized by this enzyme. Furthermore, when B. subtilis is transformed with a shuttle vector containing certain of these promoters, synthesis of the Staphylococcus aureus CAT protein is achieved, and levels up to 25% of the total cellular protein can be obtained. These findings indicate a closer evolutionary relationship of the expression machinery of these two bacterial species than has been assumed so far. On the basis of these results, the construction of new expression vectors for B. subtilis is likely to be facilitated, since a variety of well-characterized signal elements from Escherichia coli are available.

Purification of RNA polymerase and transcription-termination factor Rho from Erwinia carotovora

Erwinia carotovora RNA polymerase consists of the holoenzyme structure sigma 2 beta beta' sigma as found in Escherichia coli and other bacteria. E. carotovora RNA polymerase can synthesize RNA using lambda, T7 of T4 DNA as templates; however, it is two times less active on these templates and is more temperature-sensitive than the E. coli enzyme. The alpha subunit of the E.. carotovora enzyme is lower in molecular mass than its E. coli counterpart. The sigma factors from E. coli and E. carotovora are similar in size and in their ability to stimulate RNA synthesis by core enzyme on DNA templates such as T7 DNA. An additional protein of 115 000 Da molecular mass, termed gamma, is found associated with E. carotovora RNA polymerase. The gamma protein is tightly associated with the polymerase subunits as it is not dissociated by gel filtration in buffer containing 0.5 M NaCl. It can be purified by passing the Agarose 1.5 m enzyme through coupled Bio-Rex 70 and DEAE-cellulose columns. The gamma-protein, when present in excess over the sigma subunit, inhibits holoenzyme activity on T7 DNA but not on poly[d(A-T)]and may thus interfere with sigma activity. The gamma protein by itself cannot transcribe T7 DNA or poly[d(A-T)], nor does it stimulate core enzyme activity on T7 DNA. E. carotovora rho has a subunit molecular mass of 48 000 Da and exhibits RNA-dependent phosphohydrolysis of adenosine ribonucleoside triphosphate. E. coli and E. carotovora rho are indistinguishable immunologically, as total fusion of precipitin bands is observed. E. carotovora rho elutes from a phosphocellulose column at a salt concentration of about 0.21 M KCl, compared to that of 0.29 M KCl for E. coli rho. The poly(C)-dependent ATPase activity of E. carotovora rho is more-temperature sensitive and is six to ten times less active than that of E. coli rho. E. carotovora rho is capable of terminating RNA transcripts, as indicated by a decrease in RNA synthesis using lambda or T7 DNA as template and E. carotovora or E. coli polymerase as the transcribing-enzyme.

In vivo transcription initiation and termination sites of an alpha-amylase gene from Bacillus amyloliquefaciens cloned in Bacillus subtilis

The alpha-amylase gene, originally isolated by molecular cloning from chromosomal DNA of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, is efficiently expressed from its own promoter in a Bacillus subtilis host when present in the multicopy plasmid vector pUB110. The flanking regions of this gene were sequenced and the ends of the in vivo-generated messenger RNA were mapped by the S1 procedure. Outside the coding sequence, the mRNA for alpha-amylase contains about 30 nucleotides at the 5' end and 51 nucleotides at the 3' end. The promoter region has -10 sequence TAAAAT starting eleven nucleotides upstream from the transcription start point, pppU, and the -35 hexanucleotide TTGTTA is separated from it by 16 nucleotides. As indicated by its sequence, the terminator is bidirectional and of the rho-independent kind, and the mRNA can form a long hairpin structure at the very 3' end. The 3' terminus of the transcript does not seem to include a U stretch, although the DNA template codes for U3AU6 at the 3' end of the hairpin sequence. The bulk of the amylase mRNA does not contain any 3'-terminal poly(A).

In vitro synthesis of late bacteriophage phi 29 RNA

A crude P-100 fraction prepared from Bacillus subtilis 21 min after infection with wild-type phage phi 29 supported the in vitro synthesis of late phi 29 RNA by added RNA polymerase. Synthesis of late RNA was also detected when purified phi 29 DNA was transcribed by RNA polymerase in the presence of an S-150 fraction obtained by lysis of phi 29-infected cells in the presence of 1 M NaCl. Late phi 29 RNA was not synthesized when either the P-100 or the S-150 fraction was prepared from cultures infected with phi 29 having a mutation in gene 4.

An RNA-dependent ATPase from Chlamydomonas reinhardII

An RNA-dependent ATPase has been isolated from extracts of Chlamydomonas reinhardii. The enzyme catalyzes the hydrolysis of ATP, dATP, CTP and dCTP to the corresponding nucleoside diphosphate and Pi in the presence of Mg2+ or Mn2+ and an RNA cofactor. In 1 mM MgCl2 it displays the greatest activity with poly(A), poly(I) and poly(U); and somewhat lower activity with poly(C) and T7 RNA. Although the enzyme is active with single-stranded DNA, all the single-stranded RNAs tested were significantly more effective cofactors than any of the single or double-stranded DNAs tested. A comparison of this ATPase with other RNA-dependent ATPases indicates that is has more in common with the ATPase isolated from the nuclei of animal cells than with the RNA synthesis termination protein rho, the major RNA-dependent ATPase from Escherichia coli. Although chloroplasts of C. reinhardii are known to contain many bacterial-like gene expression components, the presence of an enzyme with close homology to the E. coli rho protein was not detected.

Free sigma subunit of Bacillus subtilis RNA polymerase binds to DNA

The affinity of Bacillus subtilis RNA polymerase sigma and delta subunits to DNA was examined by a non-denaturing polyacrylamide slab gel electrophoresis method which made it possible to resolve DNA-bound and free subunits. The results revealed that sigma subunit, but not delta subunit had a relatively high affinity for double stranded DNA. The sigma subunit was bound maximally to super-coiled pGR1-3 plasmid DNA at a mass ratio of sigma/DNA of 0.7. With B. subtilis double stranded linear DNA one sigma subunit was bound per approximately 1,000 base pairs. The sigma-DNA complex was sufficiently stable for isolation by a molecular gel filtration column. The sigma subunit had much higher affinity for super-coiled than for linear pGR1-3 DNA or for linear double stranded or denatured DNA from B. subtilis, E. coli, and calf thymus. These results indicate that the free B. subtilis sigma subunit, in contrast to the E. coli sigma subunit, can bind by itself to DNA.