DNA strand specificity in promoter recognition by RNA polymerase.

DNA strand and enzyme subunit specificities involved in the interaction between E. coli RNA polymerase and T7 DNA were studied by photo-crosslinking techniques. In non-specific enzyme-DNA complexes, subunits, sigma, beta, and beta' were crosslinked to both strands of the DNA. Under conditions leading to specific enzyme-promoter complexes, however, only sigma and beta subunits were crosslinked. The sigma subunit was crosslinked preferentially to the non-sense strand at promoter sites. No such strand specificity was observed for the beta subunit. These results provide insight into the molecular mechanism of promoter recognition and indicate that the interaction between RNA polymerase and DNA template is different at promoters and at non-specific sites.     

特异切割马铃薯卷叶病毒复制酶基因负链的核酶研究

根据锤头状核酶的作用模式,设计、合成并克隆了特异性切割马铃薯地病毒中国分离株（ＰＬＲＶ－Ｃｈ）复制酶基因负链ＲＮＡ的核酶序列,以体外转录的ＰＬＲＶ－Ｃｈ复制酶基因负链ＲＮＡ作为底物,与转录的核酶ＲＮＡ共同保温,以检测核酶对底和的体外切割作用。实验结果表明,核酸疼 ＲＮＡ对ＰＬＲＶ－Ｃｈ复制酶基因负锭ＲＮＡ具有特异切割作用。     

Laser crosslinking of E. coli RNA polymerase and T7 DNA.

The first photochemical crosslinking of a protein to a nucleic acid using laser excitation is reported. A single, 120 mJ, 20 ns pulse at 248 nm crosslinks about 10% of bound E. coli RNA polymerase to T7 DNA under the conditions studied. The crosslinking yield depends on mercaptoethanol concentration, and is a linear function of laser intensity. The protein subunits crosslinked to DNA are beta, beta' and sigma.