The largest subunit of RNA polymerase II in Dictyostelium: conservation of the unique tail domain and gene expression

1992 ◽  
Vol 70 (9) ◽  
pp. 792-799 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tak Yee Lam ◽  
Lawrence Chan ◽  
Patrick Yip ◽  
Chi-Hung Siu

cDNAs encoding the largest subunit of RNA polymerase II were isolated from a Dictyostelium cDNA library. A total of 2.9 kilobases (kb) of cDNA was sequenced and the amino acid sequence of the carboxyl-terminal half of the protein was deduced. Similar to other eukaryotic RNA polymerases II, the largest subunit of Dictyostelium RNA polymerase II contains a unique repetitive tail domain at its carboxyl-terminal region. It consists of 24 highly conserved heptapeptide repeats, with a consensus sequence of Tyr-Ser-Pro-Thr-Ser-Pro-Ser. In addition to the tail domain, five segments of the deduced primary structure show > 50% sequence identity with either yeast or mouse protein. RNA blots show that cDNA probes hybridized with a single mRNA species of ~ 6 kb and immunoblots using a monoclonal antibody raised against the tail domain lighted up a single protein band of 200 kilodaltons. Interestingly, expression of the largest subunit of RNA polymerase II appears to be under developmental regulation. The accumulation of its mRNA showed a 60% increase during the first 3 h of development, followed by a steady decrease during the next 6 h. Cells began to accumulate a higher level of the RNA polymerase II mRNA after 9 h of development. When cells were treated with low concentrations of cAMP pulses to stimulate the developmental process, the pattern of mRNA accumulation moved 3 h ahead, but otherwise remained similar to that of control cells.Key words: RNA polymerase, cDNA, sequence homology, gene expression, Dictyostelium.

1993 ◽  
Vol 90 (23) ◽  
pp. 11167-11171 ◽  
Author(s):  
R Baskaran ◽  
M E Dahmus ◽  
J Y Wang

The carboxyl-terminal domain (CTD) of the largest subunit of RNA polymerase II is composed of tandem repeats of the consensus sequence Tyr-Ser-Pro-Thr-Ser-Pro-Ser. Phosphorylation of the CTD occurs during formation of the initiation complex and is correlated with the transition from complex assembly to elongation. Previously, serine and threonine residues within the CTD have been shown to be modified by the addition of phosphate and by the addition of O-linked GlcNAc. Our results establish that the CTD is also modified in vivo by phosphorylation on tyrosine. Furthermore, a nuclear tyrosine kinase encoded by the c-abl protooncogene phosphorylates the CTD to a high stoichiometry in vitro. Under conditions of maximum phosphorylation, approximately 30 mol of phosphate are incorporated per mol of CTD. The observation that the CTD is not phosphorylated by c-Src tyrosine kinase under identical conditions indicates that the CTD is not a substrate of all tyrosine kinases. Phosphorylation of tyrosine residues within the CTD may modulate the interaction of RNA polymerase II with the preinitiation complex and, hence, may be important in regulating gene expression.


1988 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 330-339 ◽  
Author(s):  
M S Bartolomei ◽  
N F Halden ◽  
C R Cullen ◽  
J L Corden

The carboxyl-terminal domain (CTD) of the mouse RNA polymerase II largest subunit consists of 52 repeats of a seven-amino-acid block with the consensus sequence Tyr-Ser-Pro-Thr-Ser-Pro-Ser. A genetic approach was used to determine whether the CTD plays an essential role in RNA polymerase function. Deletion, insertion, and substitution mutations were created in the repetitive region of an alpha-amanitin-resistant largest-subunit gene. The effects of these mutations on RNA polymerase II activity were assayed by measuring the ability of mutant genes to confer alpha-amanitin resistance after transfection of susceptible rodent cells. Mutations that resulted in CTDs containing between 36 and 78 repeats had no effect on the transfer of alpha-amanitin resistance, whereas mutations with 25 or fewer repeats were inactive in this assay. Mutations that contained 29, 31, or 32 repeats had an intermediate effect; the number of alpha-amanitin-resistant colonies was lower and the colonies obtained were smaller, indicating that the mutant RNA polymerase II was defective. In addition, not all of the heptameric repeats were functionally equivalent in that repeats that diverged in up to three amino acids from the consensus sequence could not substitute for the conserved heptamer repeats. We concluded that the CTD is essential for RNA polymerase II activity, since substantial mutations in this region result in loss of function.


1988 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 330-339 ◽  
Author(s):  
M S Bartolomei ◽  
N F Halden ◽  
C R Cullen ◽  
J L Corden

The carboxyl-terminal domain (CTD) of the mouse RNA polymerase II largest subunit consists of 52 repeats of a seven-amino-acid block with the consensus sequence Tyr-Ser-Pro-Thr-Ser-Pro-Ser. A genetic approach was used to determine whether the CTD plays an essential role in RNA polymerase function. Deletion, insertion, and substitution mutations were created in the repetitive region of an alpha-amanitin-resistant largest-subunit gene. The effects of these mutations on RNA polymerase II activity were assayed by measuring the ability of mutant genes to confer alpha-amanitin resistance after transfection of susceptible rodent cells. Mutations that resulted in CTDs containing between 36 and 78 repeats had no effect on the transfer of alpha-amanitin resistance, whereas mutations with 25 or fewer repeats were inactive in this assay. Mutations that contained 29, 31, or 32 repeats had an intermediate effect; the number of alpha-amanitin-resistant colonies was lower and the colonies obtained were smaller, indicating that the mutant RNA polymerase II was defective. In addition, not all of the heptameric repeats were functionally equivalent in that repeats that diverged in up to three amino acids from the consensus sequence could not substitute for the conserved heptamer repeats. We concluded that the CTD is essential for RNA polymerase II activity, since substantial mutations in this region result in loss of function.


2006 ◽  
Vol 73 ◽  
pp. 85-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard J. Reece ◽  
Laila Beynon ◽  
Stacey Holden ◽  
Amanda D. Hughes ◽  
Karine Rébora ◽  
...  

The recognition of changes in environmental conditions, and the ability to adapt to these changes, is essential for the viability of cells. There are numerous well characterized systems by which the presence or absence of an individual metabolite may be recognized by a cell. However, the recognition of a metabolite is just one step in a process that often results in changes in the expression of whole sets of genes required to respond to that metabolite. In higher eukaryotes, the signalling pathway between metabolite recognition and transcriptional control can be complex. Recent evidence from the relatively simple eukaryote yeast suggests that complex signalling pathways may be circumvented through the direct interaction between individual metabolites and regulators of RNA polymerase II-mediated transcription. Biochemical and structural analyses are beginning to unravel these elegant genetic control elements.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document