Open AccessLocation, function, and nucleotide sequence of a promoter for bacteriophage T3 RNA polymerase.
Author(s) -
Samit Adhya,
Shantanu Basu,
Probir Kumar Sarkar,
Umadas Maitra
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.78.1.147
Subject(s) - rna polymerase , biology , polymerase , transcription (linguistics) , base pair , microbiology and biotechnology , genetics , nucleic acid sequence , rna polymerase i , bacteriophage , rna , promoter , rna polymerase ii , dna , rna dependent rna polymerase , gene , gene expression , escherichia coli , linguistics , philosophy
The major promoters for bacteriophage T3 RNA polymerase on the T3 genome have been mapped by DNA.RNA filter hybridization. One promoter is located in a 300-base-pair Hpa I restriction fragment near the genetic "left" end of T3 DNA. The sequence in the vicinity of the major initiation site of transcription in this region has been determined. A part of the (-)strand sequence is 5' T-A-T-T-T-A-C-C-C-T-C-A-C-T-A-A-A-G-+1 G-G-A-A-U 3'. Comparison of this sequence with the prototype 23-base-pair promoter sequence for bacteriophage T7 RNA polymerase shows a striking pattern of homology and divergence. Between positions -9 and +4, the sequences are virtually identical, whereas between positions -17 and -10, the sequences are quite different. It is postulated that these sequence subsets may perform different functions in transcription initiation by the phage RNA polymerases.