The role of RNA polymerase σ subunit in promoter-independent initiation of transcription
- 15 March 2004
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Vol. 101 (13) , 4396-4400
- https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0400886101
Abstract
In bacteria, initiation of transcription depends on the RNA polymerase σ subunit, which brings catalytically proficient RNA polymerase core to promoters by binding to specific DNA elements located upstream of the transcription start point. Here, we study σ-dependent synthesis of a transcript that is used to prime replication of the single-stranded genome of bacteriophage M13. We show that, in this system, σ plays no role in DNA recognition, which is accomplished solely through RNA polymerase core interaction with DNA downstream of the transcription start point. However, σ is required for full-sized transcript synthesis by allowing RNA polymerase core to escape into productive elongation. RNA polymerase σ may play a similar role during replication primer synthesis in other bacterial mobile elements whose life cycle involves a single-stranded DNA stage.Keywords
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