Two transcription pause elements underlie a σ70-dependent pause cycle

The movement of RNA polymerase (RNAP) during transcription elongation is modulated by DNA-encoded elements that cause the elongation complex to pause. One of the best-characterized pause sequences is a binding site for the σ70 initiation factor that induces pausing at a site near lambdoid phage late-gene promoters. An essential component of this σ70-dependent pause is the elemental pause site (EPS), a sequence that itself induces transcription pausing throughout the Escherichia coli genome and underlies other complex regulatory pause elements, such as the ops and his operon pauses. Here, we identify and provide a detailed kinetic analysis of a transcription cycle analogous to abortive cycling that underlies the σ70-dependent pause. We show that, in σ70-dependent pausing, the elemental pause acts primarily to modulate the rate at which complexes attempt to disengage the σ70:DNA interaction. Our findings establish the σ70-dependent pause-encoding region as a multipartite element in which several pause-inducing components make distinct mechanistic contributions to the induction and maintenance of a regulatory transcription pause.