Skip to main content
PMC home page
Nucleic Acids Research logoLink to Nucleic Acids Research
. 1984 May 25;12(10):4411–4427. doi: 10.1093/nar/12.10.4411

A computer algorithm for testing potential prokaryotic terminators.

V Brendel, E N Trifonov
PMCID: PMC318841  PMID: 6374619

Abstract

The nucleotide sequences of 30 factor-independent terminators of transcription with RNA polymerase from E. coli have been compiled and analyzed. The standard features - a stretch of thymine residues and a preceding dyad symmetry - are shared by most sequences, but there are striking exceptions which indicate that these features alone are not sufficient to describe these sites. In two thirds of the sequences the 3'-half of the dyad symmetry contains the pentanucleotide CGGG (G/C) or a close derivative; about one third have TCTG or a close derivative just downstream of the termination point. The TCTG -box might be implied in termination of stringently controlled operons of E. coli. An algorithm to locate terminators in templates of known nucleotide sequence has been constructed on the basis of correlation to the distribution of dinucleotides along the aligned signal sequences. The algorithm has been tested on natural sequences of a total length of about 11,500 N. It finds all known independent terminators and only a few other sites, including some of the rho-dependent and putative terminators.

Full text

PDF
4411

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Adhya S., Gottesman M. Control of transcription termination. Annu Rev Biochem. 1978;47:967–996. doi: 10.1146/annurev.bi.47.070178.004535. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Barnes W. M. DNA sequence from the histidine operon control region: seven histidine codons in a row. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1978 Sep;75(9):4281–4285. doi: 10.1073/pnas.75.9.4281. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Barry G., Squires C., Squires C. L. Attenuation and processing of RNA from the rplJL--rpoBC transcription unit of Escherichia coli. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1980 Jun;77(6):3331–3335. doi: 10.1073/pnas.77.6.3331. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Brosius J., Dull T. J., Sleeter D. D., Noller H. F. Gene organization and primary structure of a ribosomal RNA operon from Escherichia coli. J Mol Biol. 1981 May 15;148(2):107–127. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(81)90508-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Brown S., Albrechtsen B., Pedersen S., Klemm P. Localization and regulation of the structural gene for transcription-termination factor rho of Escherichia coli. J Mol Biol. 1982 Dec 5;162(2):283–298. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(82)90527-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Cone K. C., Sellitti M. A., Steege D. A. Lac repressor mRNA transcription terminates in vivo in the lac control region. J Biol Chem. 1983 Sep 25;258(18):11296–11304. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Duester G. L., Holmes W. M. The distal end of the ribosomal RNA operon rrnD of Escherichia coli contains a tRNA1thr gene, two 5s rRNA genes and a transcription terminator. Nucleic Acids Res. 1980 Sep 11;8(17):3793–3807. doi: 10.1093/nar/8.17.3793. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Friden P., Newman T., Freundlich M. Nucleotide sequence of the ilvB promoter-regulatory region: a biosynthetic operon controlled by attenuation and cyclic AMP. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1982 Oct;79(20):6156–6160. doi: 10.1073/pnas.79.20.6156. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Frunzio R., Bruni C. B., Blasi F. In vivo and in vitro detection of the leader RNA of the histidine operon of Escherichia coli K-12. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1981 May;78(5):2767–2771. doi: 10.1073/pnas.78.5.2767. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Gallant J. A. Stringent control in E. coli. Annu Rev Genet. 1979;13:393–415. doi: 10.1146/annurev.ge.13.120179.002141. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Gemmill R. M., Wessler S. R., Keller E. B., Calvo J. M. leu operon of Salmonella typhimurium is controlled by an attenuation mechanism. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1979 Oct;76(10):4941–4945. doi: 10.1073/pnas.76.10.4941. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Gentz R., Langner A., Chang A. C., Cohen S. N., Bujard H. Cloning and analysis of strong promoters is made possible by the downstream placement of a RNA termination signal. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1981 Aug;78(8):4936–4940. doi: 10.1073/pnas.78.8.4936. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Grundström T., Jaurin B. Overlap between ampC and frd operons on the Escherichia coli chromosome. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1982 Feb;79(4):1111–1115. doi: 10.1073/pnas.79.4.1111. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Harr R., Häggström M., Gustafsson P. Search algorithm for pattern match analysis of nucleic acid sequences. Nucleic Acids Res. 1983 May 11;11(9):2943–2957. doi: 10.1093/nar/11.9.2943. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Hawley D. K., McClure W. R. Compilation and analysis of Escherichia coli promoter DNA sequences. Nucleic Acids Res. 1983 Apr 25;11(8):2237–2255. doi: 10.1093/nar/11.8.2237. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Holmes W. M., Platt T., Rosenberg M. Termination of transcription in E. coli. Cell. 1983 Apr;32(4):1029–1032. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(83)90287-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Horowitz H., Platt T. A termination site for LacI transcription is between the CAP site and the lac promoter. J Biol Chem. 1982 Oct 10;257(19):11740–11746. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Ineichen K., Shepherd J. C., Bickle T. A. The DNA sequence of the phage lambda genome between PL and the gene bet. Nucleic Acids Res. 1981 Sep 25;9(18):4639–4653. doi: 10.1093/nar/9.18.4639. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Jaurin B., Grundström T., Edlund T., Normark S. The E. coli beta-lactamase attenuator mediates growth rate-dependent regulation. Nature. 1981 Mar 19;290(5803):221–225. doi: 10.1038/290221a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Kabsch W., Sander C., Trifonov E. N. The ten helical twist angles of B-DNA. Nucleic Acids Res. 1982 Feb 11;10(3):1097–1104. doi: 10.1093/nar/10.3.1097. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Korn L. J., Queen C. L., Wegman M. N. Computer analysis of nucleic acid regulatory sequences. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1977 Oct;74(10):4401–4405. doi: 10.1073/pnas.74.10.4401. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Küpper H., Sekiya T., Rosenberg M., Egan J., Landy A. A rho-dependent termination site in the gene coding for tyrosine tRNA su3 of Escherichia coli. Nature. 1978 Mar 30;272(5652):423–428. doi: 10.1038/272423a0. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Lebowitz P., Weissman S. M., Radding C. M. Nucleotide sequence of a ribonucleic acid transcribed in vitro from lambda phage deoxyribonucleic acid. J Biol Chem. 1971 Aug 25;246(16):5120–5139. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Lee F., Bertrand K., Bennett G., Yanofsky C. Comparison of the nucleotide sequences of the initial transcribed regions of the tryptophan operons of Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium. J Mol Biol. 1978 May 15;121(2):193–217. doi: 10.1016/s0022-2836(78)80005-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Lee J. S., An G., Friesen J. D., Isono K. Cloning and the nucleotide sequence of the genes for Escherichia coli ribosomal proteins L28 (rpmB) and L33 (rpmG). Mol Gen Genet. 1981;184(2):218–223. doi: 10.1007/BF00272908. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Luk K. C., Szybalski W. The tL2 cluster of transcription termination sites between genes bet and ral of coliphage lambda. Virology. 1983 Mar;125(2):403–418. doi: 10.1016/0042-6822(83)90212-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Luk K. C., Szybalski W. Transcription termination: sequence and function of the rho-independent tL3 terminator in the major leftward operon of bacteriophage lambda. Gene. 1982 Mar;17(3):247–258. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(82)90140-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. McMahon J. E., Tinoco I., Jr Sequences and efficiencies of proposed mRNA terminators. Nature. 1978 Jan 19;271(5642):275–277. doi: 10.1038/271275a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Mengeritsky G., Trifonov E. N. Nucleotide sequence-directed mapping of the nucleosomes. Nucleic Acids Res. 1983 Jun 11;11(11):3833–3851. doi: 10.1093/nar/11.11.3833. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Moreau J., Marcaud L., Maschat F., Kejzlarova-Lepesant J., Lepesant J. A., Scherrer K. A + T-rich linkers define functional domains in eukaryotic DNA. Nature. 1982 Jan 21;295(5846):260–262. doi: 10.1038/295260a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  31. Morita M., Oka A. The structure of a transcriptional unit on colicin E1 plasmid. Eur J Biochem. 1979 Jul;97(2):435–443. doi: 10.1111/j.1432-1033.1979.tb13131.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  32. Nakajima N., Ozeki H., Shimura Y. In vitro transcription of the supB-E tRNA operon of Escherichia coli. Characterization of transcription products. J Biol Chem. 1982 Sep 25;257(18):11113–11120. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  33. Nakamura K., Inouye M. DNA sequence of the gene for the outer membrane lipoprotein of E. coli: an extremely AT-rich promoter. Cell. 1979 Dec;18(4):1109–1117. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(79)90224-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  34. Pirtle R. M., Pirtle I. L., Inouye M. Messenger ribonucleic acid of the lipoprotein of the Escherichia coli outer membrane. I. Nucleotide sequence at the 3' terminus and sequences of oligonucleotides derived from complete digests of the mRNA. J Biol Chem. 1980 Jan 10;255(1):199–209. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  35. Postle K., Good R. F. DNA sequence of the Escherichia coli tonB gene. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1983 Sep;80(17):5235–5239. doi: 10.1073/pnas.80.17.5235. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  36. Rosenberg M., Court D. Regulatory sequences involved in the promotion and termination of RNA transcription. Annu Rev Genet. 1979;13:319–353. doi: 10.1146/annurev.ge.13.120179.001535. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  37. Rosenberg M., de Chrombrugghe B., Musso R. Determination of nucleotide sequences beyond the sites of transcriptional termination. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1976 Mar;73(3):717–721. doi: 10.1073/pnas.73.3.717. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  38. Rossi J., Egan J., Hudson L., Landy A. The tyrT locus: termination and processing of a complex transcript. Cell. 1981 Nov;26(3 Pt 1):305–314. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(81)90199-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  39. Ryan T., Chamberlin M. J. Transcription analyses with heteroduplex trp attenuator templates indicate that the transcript stem and loop structure serves as the termination signal. J Biol Chem. 1983 Apr 25;258(8):4690–4693. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  40. Sadler J. R., Waterman M. S., Smith T. F. Regulatory pattern identification in nucleic acid sequences. Nucleic Acids Res. 1983 Apr 11;11(7):2221–2231. doi: 10.1093/nar/11.7.2221. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  41. Sanger F., Air G. M., Barrell B. G., Brown N. L., Coulson A. R., Fiddes C. A., Hutchison C. A., Slocombe P. M., Smith M. Nucleotide sequence of bacteriophage phi X174 DNA. Nature. 1977 Feb 24;265(5596):687–695. doi: 10.1038/265687a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  42. Scherer G. E., Walkinshaw M. D., Arnott S. A computer aided oligonucleotide analysis provides a model sequence for RNA polymerase-promoter recognition in E.coli. Nucleic Acids Res. 1978 Oct;5(10):3759–3773. doi: 10.1093/nar/5.10.3759. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  43. Sege R., Söll D., Ruddle F. H., Queen C. A conversational system for the computer analysis of nucleic acid sequences. Nucleic Acids Res. 1981 Jan 24;9(2):437–444. doi: 10.1093/nar/9.2.437. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  44. Siebenlist U., Simpson R. B., Gilbert W. E. coli RNA polymerase interacts homologously with two different promoters. Cell. 1980 Jun;20(2):269–281. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(80)90613-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  45. Smith T. F., Waterman M. S., Sadler J. R. Statistical characterization of nucleic acid sequence functional domains. Nucleic Acids Res. 1983 Apr 11;11(7):2205–2220. doi: 10.1093/nar/11.7.2205. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  46. Stauffer G. V., Zurawski G., Yanofsky C. Single base-pair alterations in the Escherichia coli trp operon leader region that relieve transcription termination at the trp attenuator. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1978 Oct;75(10):4833–4837. doi: 10.1073/pnas.75.10.4833. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  47. Stormo G. D., Schneider T. D., Gold L., Ehrenfeucht A. Use of the 'Perceptron' algorithm to distinguish translational initiation sites in E. coli. Nucleic Acids Res. 1982 May 11;10(9):2997–3011. doi: 10.1093/nar/10.9.2997. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  48. Stougaard P., Molin S., Nordström K. RNAs involved in copy-number control and incompatibility of plasmid R1. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1981 Oct;78(10):6008–6012. doi: 10.1073/pnas.78.10.6008. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  49. Sugimoto K., Sugisaki H., Okamoto T., Takanami M. Studies on bacteriophage fd DNA. IV. The sequence of messenger RNA for the major coat protein gene. J Mol Biol. 1977 Apr 25;111(4):487–507. doi: 10.1016/s0022-2836(77)80065-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  50. Tinoco I., Jr, Borer P. N., Dengler B., Levin M. D., Uhlenbeck O. C., Crothers D. M., Bralla J. Improved estimation of secondary structure in ribonucleic acids. Nat New Biol. 1973 Nov 14;246(150):40–41. doi: 10.1038/newbio246040a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  51. Trifonov E. N. Sequence-dependent deformational anisotropy of chromatin DNA. Nucleic Acids Res. 1980 Sep 11;8(17):4041–4053. doi: 10.1093/nar/8.17.4041. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  52. Trifonov E. N., Sussman J. L. The pitch of chromatin DNA is reflected in its nucleotide sequence. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1980 Jul;77(7):3816–3820. doi: 10.1073/pnas.77.7.3816. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  53. Wu A. M., Christie G. E., Platt T. Tandem termination sites in the tryptophan operon of Escherichia coli. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1981 May;78(5):2913–2917. doi: 10.1073/pnas.78.5.2913. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  54. Yanofsky C. Attenuation in the control of expression of bacterial operons. Nature. 1981 Feb 26;289(5800):751–758. doi: 10.1038/289751a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  55. Young R. A. Transcription termination in the Escherichia coli ribosomal RNA operon rrnC. J Biol Chem. 1979 Dec 25;254(24):12725–12731. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Nucleic Acids Research are provided here courtesy of Oxford University Press

RESOURCES