Replication of RNA by the DNA-dependent RNA polymerase of phage T7

The DNA-dependent RNA polymerase of bacteriophage T7 utilizes a specific RNA as a template and replicates it efficiently and accurately. The RNA product (X RNA), approximately 70 nucleotides long, is initiated with either pppC or pppG and contains an AU-tich sequence. Replication of X RNA involves synthesis of complementary strands. Both strands are also significantly self-complementary, producing RNA with an extensive hairpin secondary structure. Replication of X RNA by T7 RNA polymerase is both template and enzyme specific. No other RNA serves as template for replication; neither do other polymerases, including the closely related T3 RNA polymerase, replicate X RNA. The T7 RNA polymerase-X RNA system provides an interesting model for studying replication of RNA by DNA-dependent RNA polymerases. Such a mechanism has been proposed to propagate viroids and hepatitis delta, pathogenic RNAs whose replication seems to depend on cellular RNA polymerases.     

Structure of RNAs replicated by the DNA-dependent T7 RNA polymerase.

The DNA-dependent RNA polymerase of bacteriophage T7 efficiently and specifically replicates two structurally related RNAs, termed X and Y RNAs. Replication of both RNAs involves synthesis of complementary strands initiated with pppC and pppG. RNAs transcribed from DNA template containing the established sequences of X and Y RNAs were efficiently replicated by T7 RNA polymerase. Both RNAs possess palindromic sequences with a dual axis of symmetry, permitting formation of hairpin-, dumbbell-, or cloverleaf-type structures. The template must consist of RNA and not DNA sequence, and the terminal unpaired dinucleotides of the RNA are necessary for replication. Nucleotidyl transferase activity of E. coli adenylates the unpaired CCOH dinucleotide at the 3' end of a C strand of X RNA. This feature, as well as the length (64 nucleotides) and compact structure of X and Y RNAs, suggests that they may resemble tRNA molecules and tRNA-like structures at the 3' termini of many plant viral RNA genomes.     

Single crystals of bacteriophage T7 RNA polymerase

Single crystals of T7 RNA polymerase have been grown to a maximum size of 1.8 x 0.3 x 0.3 mm. The crystals are composed of fully intact T7 RNA polymerase which is enzymatically active upon dissolution. These crystals belong to the monoclinic space group P2(1) and have unit cell parameters a = 114.5 A, b = 139.6 A, c = 125.7 A, and beta = 98.1 degrees. Self-rotation function studies indicate that there are three molecules per asymmetric unit. The crystals diffract to at least 3.0 A resolution. These are the first crystals of a DNA-dependent RNA polymerase suitable for high-resolution X-ray structure determination.     

Random mntagenesis of the gene for bacteriophage T7 RNA polymerase

Random mutagenesis of the gene for bacteriophage T7 RNA polymerase was used to identify functionally essential amino acid residues of the enzyme. A two-plasmid system was developed that permits the straightforward isolation of T7 RNA polymerase mutants that had lost almost all catalytic activity. It was shown that substitutions of Thr and Ala for Pro at the position 563, Ser for Tyr571, Pro for Thr636, Asp for Tyr639 and of Cys for Phe646 resulted in inactivation of the enzyme. It is noteworthy that all these mutations are limited to two short regions that are highly conservative in sequences of monomeric RNA polymerases.     

Nucleotide sequence of the cloned gene for bacteriophage T7 RNA polymerase

The coding sequence of the gene for bacteriophage T7 RNA polymerase has been cloned into the PstI site of plasmid pBR322. This cloned DNA extends from T7 nucleotide (Dunn & Studier, 1981) 3127 to 5821 or T7 coordinate 7.82 to 14.55. The nucleotide sequence is given, as well as the predicted amino acid sequence of T7 RNA polymerase. This peptide sequence is comprised of 883 amino acid residues with a total molecular weight of 98,092.     

Topography of bacteriophage T7 RNA polymerase using monoclonal antibodies]

Four clones producing monoclonal antibodies inhibiting enzymatic activity were used to localize the functionally important antigenic determinants of T7 RNA polymerase. All antibodies were shown to bind to C-terminal fragment of the protein (residues 589-883). The competition studies showed the specificity of the three antibodies toward one epitope and the fourth antibody to another one. By means of limited cleavage of the RNA polymerase with cyanogen bromide with subsequent electrophoretic separation and immunoblotting the peptides containing antigenic determinants were localized. These are Met861-Ala883 for antibody 4H8 and Met750-Met832 for antibodies 9B2, 3H11 and 2A2.