Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Molecular and Cellular Biology logoLink to Molecular and Cellular Biology
. 1988 Oct;8(10):4502–4509. doi: 10.1128/mcb.8.10.4502

A tridecamer DNA sequence supports human mitochondrial RNA 3'-end formation in vitro.

T W Christianson 1, D A Clayton 1
PMCID: PMC365525  PMID: 3185559

Abstract

Vertebrate mitochondrial genomes contain a putative transcription termination site at the boundary between the genes for 16S rRNA and leucyl-tRNA. We have described previously an in vitro transcription system from human cells with the capacity to generate RNA 3' ends with the same map positions as those synthesized in vivo. By assaying the ability of variously truncated templates to support 3'-end formation, we demonstrated that the tridecamer sequence 5'-TGGCAGAGCCCCGG-3', contained entirely within the gene for leucyl-tRNA, is necessary to direct accurate termination. When two tridecamer sequences and their immediate flanking regions were placed in tandem, termination occurred at both promoter-proximal and promoter-distal sites. Furthermore, termination was competitively inhibited, in a concentration-dependent manner, by DNA containing the tridecamer sequence. These results suggest a modest sequence requirement for transcription termination that is contingent on a factor capable of recognizing the presence of the tridecamer DNA sequence.

Full text

PDF
4502

Images in this article

4503Image
on p.4503
4504Image
on p.4504
4506Image
on p.4506
4506Image
on p.4506
4507Image
on p.4507

Selected References

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

  1. Anderson S., Bankier A. T., Barrell B. G., de Bruijn M. H., Coulson A. R., Drouin J., Eperon I. C., Nierlich D. P., Roe B. A., Sanger F. Sequence and organization of the human mitochondrial genome. Nature. 1981 Apr 9;290(5806):457–465. doi: 10.1038/290457a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bogenhagen D. F., Brown D. D. Nucleotide sequences in Xenopus 5S DNA required for transcription termination. Cell. 1981 Apr;24(1):261–270. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(81)90522-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Brennan C. A., Dombroski A. J., Platt T. Transcription termination factor rho is an RNA-DNA helicase. Cell. 1987 Mar 27;48(6):945–952. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(87)90703-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Chang D. D., Clayton D. A. A novel endoribonuclease cleaves at a priming site of mouse mitochondrial DNA replication. EMBO J. 1987 Feb;6(2):409–417. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1987.tb04770.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Chang D. D., Clayton D. A. Precise identification of individual promoters for transcription of each strand of human mitochondrial DNA. Cell. 1984 Mar;36(3):635–643. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(84)90343-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Chang D. D., Clayton D. A. Priming of human mitochondrial DNA replication occurs at the light-strand promoter. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1985 Jan;82(2):351–355. doi: 10.1073/pnas.82.2.351. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Christianson T. W., Clayton D. A. In vitro transcription of human mitochondrial DNA: accurate termination requires a region of DNA sequence that can function bidirectionally. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1986 Sep;83(17):6277–6281. doi: 10.1073/pnas.83.17.6277. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Clayton D. A. Transcription of the mammalian mitochondrial genome. Annu Rev Biochem. 1984;53:573–594. doi: 10.1146/annurev.bi.53.070184.003041. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Derbyshire K. M., Salvo J. J., Grindley N. D. A simple and efficient procedure for saturation mutagenesis using mixed oligodeoxynucleotides. Gene. 1986;46(2-3):145–152. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(86)90398-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Dubin D. T., Montoya J., Timko K. D., Attardi G. Sequence analysis and precise mapping of the 3' ends of HeLa cell mitochondrial ribosomal RNAs. J Mol Biol. 1982 May 5;157(1):1–19. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(82)90510-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Dunn J. J., Studier F. W. Complete nucleotide sequence of bacteriophage T7 DNA and the locations of T7 genetic elements. J Mol Biol. 1983 Jun 5;166(4):477–535. doi: 10.1016/s0022-2836(83)80282-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Gelfand R., Attardi G. Synthesis and turnover of mitochondrial ribonucleic acid in HeLa cells: the mature ribosomal and messenger ribonucleic acid species are metabolically unstable. Mol Cell Biol. 1981 Jun;1(6):497–511. doi: 10.1128/mcb.1.6.497. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Grummt I., Rosenbauer H., Niedermeyer I., Maier U., Ohrlein A. A repeated 18 bp sequence motif in the mouse rDNA spacer mediates binding of a nuclear factor and transcription termination. Cell. 1986 Jun 20;45(6):837–846. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(86)90558-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Masters B. S., Stohl L. L., Clayton D. A. Yeast mitochondrial RNA polymerase is homologous to those encoded by bacteriophages T3 and T7. Cell. 1987 Oct 9;51(1):89–99. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(87)90013-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Maxam A. M., Gilbert W. Sequencing end-labeled DNA with base-specific chemical cleavages. Methods Enzymol. 1980;65(1):499–560. doi: 10.1016/s0076-6879(80)65059-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Montoya J., Gaines G. L., Attardi G. The pattern of transcription of the human mitochondrial rRNA genes reveals two overlapping transcription units. Cell. 1983 Aug;34(1):151–159. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(83)90145-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Sanger F., Coulson A. R., Barrell B. G., Smith A. J., Roe B. A. Cloning in single-stranded bacteriophage as an aid to rapid DNA sequencing. J Mol Biol. 1980 Oct 25;143(2):161–178. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(80)90196-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Tapper D. P., Van Etten R. A., Clayton D. A. Isolation of mammalian mitochondrial DNA and RNA and cloning of the mitochondrial genome. Methods Enzymol. 1983;97:426–434. doi: 10.1016/0076-6879(83)97153-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Van Etten R. A., Bird J. W., Clayton D. A. Identification of the 3'-ends of the two mouse mitochondrial ribosomal RNAs. The 3'-end of 16 S ribosomal RNA contains nucleotides encoded by the gene for transfer RNALeuUUR. J Biol Chem. 1983 Aug 25;258(16):10104–10110. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Walberg M. W., Clayton D. A. In vitro transcription of human mitochondrial DNA. Identification of specific light strand transcripts from the displacement loop region. J Biol Chem. 1983 Jan 25;258(2):1268–1275. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. von Hippel P. H., Bear D. G., Morgan W. D., McSwiggen J. A. Protein-nucleic acid interactions in transcription: a molecular analysis. Annu Rev Biochem. 1984;53:389–446. doi: 10.1146/annurev.bi.53.070184.002133. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Molecular and Cellular Biology are provided here courtesy of Taylor & Francis

RESOURCES