Imperial College London
Alternate

Professor Martin Buck FRS

Faculty of Natural Sciences, Department of Life Sciences

Senior Research Investigator
 
 
 
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Contact

 

+44 (0)20 7594 5442m.buck

 
 
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Location

 

448Sir Alexander Fleming BuildingSouth Kensington Campus

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Summary

 

Publications

Citation

BibTex format

@article{Zhang:2015:10.1016/j.jmb.2015.09.005,
author = {Zhang, N and Schaefer, J and Sharma, A and Rayner, L and Zhang, X and Tuma, R and Stockley, P and Buck, M},
doi = {10.1016/j.jmb.2015.09.005},
journal = {Journal of Molecular Biology},
pages = {3516--3526},
title = {Mutations in RNA Polymerase Bridge Helix and Switch Regions Affect Active-Site Networks and Transcript-Assisted Hydrolysis},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jmb.2015.09.005},
volume = {427},
year = {2015}
}
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RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - JOUR
AB  - In bacterial RNA polymerase (RNAP), the bridge helix and switch regions form an intricate network with the catalytic active centre and the main channel. These interactions are important for catalysis, hydrolysis and clamp domain movement. By targeting conserved residues in Escherichia coli RNAP, we are able to show that functions of these regions are differentially required during σ70-dependent and the contrasting σ54-dependent transcription activations and thus potentially underlie the key mechanistic differences between the two transcription paradigms. We further demonstrate that the transcription factor DksA directly regulates σ54-dependent activation both positively and negatively. This finding is consistent with the observed impacts of DksA on σ70-dependent promoters. DksA does not seem to significantly affect RNAP binding to a pre-melted promoter DNA but affects extensively activity at the stage of initial RNA synthesis on σ54-regulated promoters. Strikingly, removal of the σ54 Region I is sufficient to invert the action of DksA (from stimulation to inhibition or vice versa) at two test promoters. The RNAP mutants we generated also show a strong propensity to backtrack. These mutants increase the rate of transcript-hydrolysis cleavage to a level comparable to that seen in the Thermus aquaticus RNAP even in the absence of a non-complementary nucleotide. These novel phenotypes imply an important function of the bridge helix and switch regions as an anti-backtracking ratchet and an RNA hydrolysis regulator.
AU  - Zhang,N
AU  - Schaefer,J
AU  - Sharma,A
AU  - Rayner,L
AU  - Zhang,X
AU  - Tuma,R
AU  - Stockley,P
AU  - Buck,M
DO  - 10.1016/j.jmb.2015.09.005
EP  - 3526
PY  - 2015///
SN  - 1089-8638
SP  - 3516
TI  - Mutations in RNA Polymerase Bridge Helix and Switch Regions Affect Active-Site Networks and Transcript-Assisted Hydrolysis
T2  - Journal of Molecular Biology
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jmb.2015.09.005
UR  - http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/41274
VL  - 427
ER  -
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