Open AccessRNase-like domain in DNA-directed RNA polymerase II.
Author(s) -
Tomoyuki Shirai,
Mitiko Go
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.011
H-Index - 771
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.88.20.9056
Subject(s) - rnase mrp , rnase h , biology , polymerase , rnase p , rna polymerase i , rna polymerase , microbiology and biotechnology , small nuclear rna , rnase ph , rna dependent rna polymerase , rna , dna polymerase , rna polymerase ii , biochemistry , dna , gene expression , gene , promoter
DNA-directed RNA polymerase is responsible for gene expression. Despite its importance, many details of its function and higher-order structure still remain unknown. We report here a local sequence similarity between the second largest subunit of RNA polymerase II and bacterial RNases Ba (barnase), Bi, and St. The most remarkable similarity is that the catalytic sites of the RNases are shared with the eukaryotic RNA polymerase II subunits of Drosophila melanogaster and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Several amino acids conserved among the RNases and the RNase-like domains of the RNA polymerase subunits are located in the neighborhood of the catalytic sites of barnase, whose three-dimensional structure has been resolved. This observation suggests the functional importance of the RNase-like domain of the RNA polymerase subunits and indicates that the RNase-like domain may have RNase activity. The location of the RNase-like domain relative to the region necessary for RNA polymerization is similar to the relative proximity of 5'----3' or 3'----5' exonuclease and the region of polymerase activity of DNA polymerase I. The RNase-like domain might work in proofreading, as in RNA-directed RNA polymerase of influenza virus, or it may contribute to RNA binding through an unknown function.