Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Nucleic Acids Research logoLink to Nucleic Acids Research
. 1982 Sep 25;10(18):5447–5465. doi: 10.1093/nar/10.18.5447

Regulation of transcription from tandem and convergent promoters.

H Horowitz, T Platt
PMCID: PMC320888  PMID: 6755394

Abstract

We have examined transcription on templates containing the trp and lac UV5 promoters arranged in tandem or opposing orientations. These studies have revealed that the strengths of the two promoters are comparable, though the lac UV5 promoter is much more sensitive to the level of initiating purine present. Kinetic experiments have shown that a polymerase molecule poised at the lac promoter, or a lac repressor molecule bound to the lac operator, can temporarily block a polymerase molecule initiated from the trp promoter, though transcription eventually continues through. In the convergent construct, transcription from the lac promoter is hindered only when initiation is suboptimal due to low purine concentrations.

Full text

PDF
5447

Images in this article

5452Image
on p.5452
5453Image
on p.5453
5455Image
on p.5455
5457Image
on p.5457

Selected References

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

  1. Anthony D. D., Goldthwait D. A., Wu C. W. Studies with the ribonucleic acid polymerase. II. Kinetic aspects of initiation and polymerization. Biochemistry. 1969 Jan;8(1):246–256. doi: 10.1021/bi00829a035. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Axelrod N. Transcription of bacteriophage phi-X174 in vitro: selective initiation with oligonucleotides. J Mol Biol. 1976 Dec 25;108(4):753–770. doi: 10.1016/s0022-2836(76)80115-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Bovre K., Szybalski W. Patterns of convergent and overlapping transcription within the b2 region of coliphage lambda. Virology. 1969 Aug;38(4):614–626. doi: 10.1016/0042-6822(69)90181-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Burgess R. R., Jendrisak J. J. A procedure for the rapid, large-scall purification of Escherichia coli DNA-dependent RNA polymerase involving Polymin P precipitation and DNA-cellulose chromatography. Biochemistry. 1975 Oct 21;14(21):4634–4638. doi: 10.1021/bi00692a011. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Christie G. E., Farnham P. J., Platt T. Synthetic sites for transcription termination and a functional comparison with tryptophan operon termination sites in vitro. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1981 Jul;78(7):4180–4184. doi: 10.1073/pnas.78.7.4180. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Gilbert S. F., de Boer H. A., Nomura M. Identification of initiation sites for the in vitro transcription of rRNA operons rrnE and rrnA in E. coli. Cell. 1979 May;17(1):211–224. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(79)90309-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Glaser G., Cashel M. In vitro transcripts from the rrn B ribosomal RNA cistron originate from two tandem promoters. Cell. 1979 Jan;16(1):111–121. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(79)90192-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Gralla J. D., Carpousis A. J., Stefano J. E. Productive and abortive initiation of transcription in vitro at the lac UV5 promoter. Biochemistry. 1980 Dec 9;19(25):5864–5869. doi: 10.1021/bi00566a031. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Hamming J., Arnberg A., Ab G., Gruber M. Electron microscopic analysis of transcription of a ribosomal RNA operon of E. coli. Nucleic Acids Res. 1981 Mar 25;9(6):1339–1350. doi: 10.1093/nar/9.6.1339. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Kassavetis G. A., Kaya K. M., Chamberlin M. J. Escherichia coli RNA polymerase-rifampicin complexes bound at promoter sites block RNA chain elongation by Escherichia coli RNA polymerase and T7-specific RNA polymerase. Biochemistry. 1978 Dec 26;17(26):5798–5804. doi: 10.1021/bi00619a029. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Levinthal M., Nikaido H. Consequences of deletion mutations joining two operons of opposite polarity. J Mol Biol. 1969 Jun 28;42(3):511–520. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(69)90239-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Maizels N. M. The nucleotide sequence of the lactose messenger ribonucleic acid transcribed from the UV5 promoter mutant of Escherichia coli. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1973 Dec;70(12):3585–3589. doi: 10.1073/pnas.70.12.3585. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Miller J. H., Reznikoff W. S., Silverstone A. E., Ippen K., Signer E. R., Beckwith J. R. Fusions of the lac and trp Regions of the Escherichia coli Chromosome. J Bacteriol. 1970 Dec;104(3):1273–1279. doi: 10.1128/jb.104.3.1273-1279.1970. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Oppenheim D. S., Yanofsky C. Functional analysis of wild=type and altered tryptophan operon promoters of Salmonella typhimurium in Escherichia coli. J Mol Biol. 1980 Dec 5;144(2):143–161. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(80)90030-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Reznikoff W. S., Miller J. H., Scaife J. G., Beckwith J. R. A mechanism for repressor action. J Mol Biol. 1969 Jul 14;43(1):201–213. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(69)90089-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Sancar G. B., Sancar A., Little J. W., Rupp W. D. The uvrB gene of Escherichia coli has both lexA-repressed and lexA-independent promoters. Cell. 1982 Mar;28(3):523–530. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(82)90207-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Schmitz A., Galas D. J. The interaction of RNA polymerase and lac repressor with the lac control region. Nucleic Acids Res. 1979 Jan;6(1):111–137. doi: 10.1093/nar/6.1.111. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Spiegelman W. G., Reichardt L. F., Yaniv M., Heinemann S. F., Kaiser A. D., Eisen H. Bidirectional transcription and the regulation of Phage lambda repressor synthesis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1972 Nov;69(11):3156–3160. doi: 10.1073/pnas.69.11.3156. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Squires C., Lee F., Bertrand K., Squires C. L., Bronson M. J., Yanofsky C. Nucleotide sequence of the 5' end of tryptophan messenger RNA of Escherichia coli. J Mol Biol. 1976 May 15;103(2):351–381. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(76)90317-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Stahl S. J., Chamberlin M. J. An expanded transcriptional map of T7 bacteriophage. Reading of minor T7 promoter sites in vitro by Escherichia coli RNA polymerase. J Mol Biol. 1977 Jun 5;112(4):577–601. doi: 10.1016/s0022-2836(77)80165-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Stefano J. E., Gralla J. Lac UV5 transcription in vitro. Rate limitation subsequent to formation of an RNA polymerase-DNA complex. Biochemistry. 1979 Mar 20;18(6):1063–1067. doi: 10.1021/bi00573a020. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Ward D. F., Murray N. E. Convergent transcription in bacteriophage lambda: interference with gene expression. J Mol Biol. 1979 Sep 15;133(2):249–266. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(79)90533-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Young R. A., Steitz J. A. Tandem promoters direct E. coli ribosomal RNA synthesis. Cell. 1979 May;17(1):225–234. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(79)90310-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

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

RESOURCES