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RNA polymerase molecules initiating transcription at tandem promoters can collide and cause premature transcription termination
Author(s) -
Ponnambalam Sreenivasan,
Busby Stephen
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
febs letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.593
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1873-3468
pISSN - 0014-5793
DOI - 10.1016/0014-5793(87)81549-1
Subject(s) - transcription factor ii d , promoter , rna polymerase ii , transcription (linguistics) , rna polymerase ii holoenzyme , polymerase , microbiology and biotechnology , transcription factor ii f , general transcription factor , rna polymerase , transcription factor ii e , transcription factor ii b , transcription bubble , rna polymerase i , base pair , termination factor , biology , chemistry , rna dependent rna polymerase , dna , rna , genetics , gene , gene expression , linguistics , philosophy
Using purified E. coli RNA polymerase we have studied the transcription in vitro of a series of DNA fragments carrying two tandemly arranged promoters, where the corresponding transcription start points were separated by 263, 138, 83 and 78 base pairs. In the case where the transcription start points are 83 base pairs apart, there is an interaction between RNA polymerase molecules transcribing from the two promoters. This interaction results in premature termination of the upstream transcript at a precise site. We propose that this is the result of RNA polymerase transcribing from the upstream promoter bumping into polymerase at the downstream promoter. The interaction between the two polymerase molecules is crucially dependent on the distance between the two promoters.