SummaryThe Escherichia coli resident mobile element IS30 has pronounced target specificity. Upon transposition, the element frequently inserts exactly into the same position of a preferred target sequence. Insertion sites in phages, plasmids and in the genome of E. coli are characterized by an exceptionally long palindromic consensus sequence that provides strong specificity for IS30 insertions, despite a relatively high level of degeneracy. This 24-bp-long region alone determines the attractiveness of the target DNA and the exact position of IS30 insertion. The divergence of a target site from the consensus and the occurrence of 'nonpermitted' bases in certain positions influence the target activity. Differences in attractiveness are emphasized if two targets are present in the same replicon, as was demonstrated by quantitative analysis. In a system of competitive targets, the oligonucleotide sequence representing the consensus of genomic IS30 insertion sites proved to be the most efficient target. Having compared the known insertion sites, we suppose that IS30-like target specificity, which may represent an alternative strategy in target selection among mobile elements, is characteristic of the insertion sequences IS3, IS6 and IS21, too.
We present a reproducible method for the preparation of nuclear extracts from the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae that support efficient RNA polymerase B (II)-dependent transcription. Extracts from both a crude nuclear fraction and Percoll-purified nuclei are highly active for site-specific initiation and transcription of a G-free cassette under the Adenovirus major late promoter. At optimal extract concentrations transcription is at least 5 times more efficient with the yeast extracts than with HeLa whole cell extracts. We show that the transcriptional activity is sensitive to alpha-amanitin and to depletion of factor(s) recognizing the TATA-box of the promoter. The in vitro reaction showed maximal activity after 45 min, was very sensitive to Cl-, but was not affected by high concentrations of potassium. We find that the efficiency of in vitro transcription in nuclear extracts is reproducibly high when spheroplasting is performed with a partially purified beta 1,3-glucanase (lyticase). Therefore a simplified method to isolate the lyticase from the supernatant of Oerskovia xanthineolytica is also presented.
The transposase of 1S30 catalyses different transpositional rearrangements via the dimer (IS30) 2 intermediate structure. Mutation analysis provides evidence that the Cterminal part of IS30 transposase is required for the formation and dissolution of (IS30) 2 dimer. C-terminal mutants are also defective in transpositional fusion; however, this deficiency can be 'suppressed' by addition of the final product of site-specific dimerisation, the core (ISJ0) 2 intermediate structure. The transposase part studied shows significant homologies in three highly conserved regions to proteins of IS50-related mobile elements.
We report the identification and purification of a yeast factor functionally homologous to the human upstream element factor (UEFh). Although the yeast protein (UEFy) has a higher molecular weight than the HeLa UEF (60 kD versus 45 kD) both have identical DNA-binding properties: the purified UEFy recognizes the Adenovirus 2 (Ad2) major late promoter upstream element (MLP-UE; from nucleotide -49 to -67) as well as the IVa2 upstream element (IVa2-UE; from nucleotide -98 to -122) with a higher affinity for the MLP-UE than for the IVa2-UE. Based on its DNA binding specificity, size and thermostability, the UEFy protein appears also similar or equivalent to the centromere binding protein CP1. In a competition assay with oligonucleotides containing the MLP-UE binding site, a drastic reduction of Ad2 MLP transcription was observed both in a HeLa and in a yeast cell free system, which was restored by addition of either the purified UEFh or UEFy proteins. We conclude that both UEFh and UEFy activate transcription from the Ad2 MLP upon binding to the upstream element, whatever is the in vitro cell-free system (yeast or HeLa). This indicate that some regulatory function represented by the upstream element and its cognate factor, is well conserved between human and yeast.
RNA polymerase C (III) promotes the transcription of tRNA and 5S RNA genes. In Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the enzyme is composed of 15 subunits, ranging from 160 to about 10 kDa. Here we report the cloning of the gene encoding the 82-kDa subunit, RPC82. It maps as a single-copy gene on chromosome XVI. The UCR2 gene was found in the opposite orientation only 340 bp upstream of the RPC82 start codon, and the end of the SKI3 coding sequence was found only 117 bp downstream of the RPC82 stop codon. The RPC82 gene encodes a protein with a predicted M(r) of 73,984, having no strong sequence similarity to other known proteins. Disruption of the RPC82 gene was lethal. An rpc82 temperature-sensitive mutant, constructed by in vitro mutagenesis of the gene, showed a deficient rate of tRNA relative to rRNA synthesis. Of eight RNA polymerase C genes tested, only the RPC31 gene on a multicopy plasmid was capable of suppressing the rpc82(Ts) defect, suggesting an interaction between the polymerase C 82-kDa and 31-kDa subunits. A group of RNA polymerase C-specific subunits are proposed to form a substructure of the enzyme.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.