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. 1988 May;8(5):1940–1946. doi: 10.1128/mcb.8.5.1940

Events during eucaryotic rRNA transcription initiation and elongation: conversion from the closed to the open promoter complex requires nucleotide substrates.

E Bateman 1, M R Paule 1
PMCID: PMC363372  PMID: 3133551

Abstract

Chemical footprinting and topological analysis were carried out on the Acanthamoeba castellanii rRNA transcription initiation factor (TIF) and RNA polymerase I complexes with DNA during transcription initiation and elongation. The results show that the binding of TIF and polymerase to the promoter does not alter the supercoiling of the DNA template and the template does not become sensitive to modification by diethylpyrocarbonate, which can identify melted DNA regions. Thus, in contrast to bacterial RNA polymerase, the eucaryotic RNA polymerase I-promoter complex is in a closed configuration preceding addition of nucleotides in vitro. Initiation and 3'-O-methyl CTP-limited translocation by RNA polymerase I results in separation of the polymerase-TIF footprints, leaving the TIF footprint unaltered. In contrast, initiation and translocation result in a significant change in the conformation of the polymerase-DNA complex, culminating in an unwound DNA region of at least 10 base pairs.

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Selected References

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

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