A protein kinase from wheat germ that phosphorylates the largest subunit of RNA polymerase II.

A protein kinase from wheat germ that phosphorylates the largest subunit of RNA polymerase IIA has been partially purified and characterized. The kinase has a native molecular weight of about 200 kilodaltons. This kinase utilizes Mg2+ and ATP and transfers about 20 phosphates to the heptapeptide repeats Pro-Thr-Ser-Pro-Ser-Tyr-Ser in the carboxyl-terminal domain of the 220-kilodalton subunit of soybean RNA polymerase II. This phosphorylation results in a mobility shift of the 220-kilodalton subunits of a variety of eukaryotic RNA polymerases to polypeptides ranging in size from greater than 220 kilodaltons to 240 kilodaltons on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels. The phosphorylation is highly specific to the heptapeptide repeats since a degraded subunit polypeptide of 180 kilodaltons that lacks the heptapeptide repeats is poorly phosphorylated. Synthetic heptapeptide repeat multimers inhibit the phosphorylation of the 220-kilodalton subunit.