Abstract
This article summarizes a number of lines of investigation of rRNA gene expression that are ongoing in the laboratory. These studies focus on mouse and frog, two distant vertebrate species. One major conclusion is that the basic properties of rRNA gene expression appear remarkably well conserved in evolution, with only relatively minor perturbations between frog and mouse, contrary to the common interpretation of the species-selectivety between mouse and human rDNA transcription (e.g., 1). This is true both for the process of rDNA transcription and for the subsequent rRNA processing event.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Sommerville J: RNA polynmerase I promoters and transcription factors. Nature 310: 189–190, 1984
Sollner-Webb B, Wilkinson J, Roan J, Reeder R: Nested control regions promote Xenopus ribosomal RNA synthesis by RNA polymerase 1. Cell 35: 199–206, 1983
Windle J, Sollner-Webb B: Upstream domains of the frog rDNA promoter are revealed in microinjected oocytes. Mol Cell Biol 6: 1228–1234, 1986
Miller K, Tower J, Sollner-Webb B: A complex control region for the mouse rRNA gene directs accurate transcription by RNA polymerase I. Mol Cell Biol 5: 554–562, 1985
Henderson S, Sollner-Webb B: The mouse rDNA promoter has more stringent requirements in vivo than in vitro. Mol Cell Biol 10: 4970–4973, 1990
Windle J, Sollner-Webb B: Two distinct and precisely positioned domains promote transcription of Xenopus rRNA genes: Analysis with linker scanning mutants. Mol Cell Biol 6: 4585–4593, 1986
Tower J, Culotta V, Sollner-Webb B: The factors and nucleotide sequences that direct rDNA transcription and their relationship to the stable transcription complex. Mol Cell Biol 6: 3451–3462, 1986
Wilkinson J, Sollner-Webb B: Transcription of Xenopus ribosomal RNA genes by RNA polymerase I in vitro. J Biol Chem 257: 14375–14383, 1982
Culotta V, Wilkinson J, Sollner-Webb B: Mouse and frog violate the paradigm of species-specific ribosomal RNA transcription. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 84: 7498–7502, 1987
Pape L, Windle J, Sollner-Webb B: Half helix turn spacing changes convert a ‘frog’ into a ‘mouse’ rDNA promoter: a distant upstream domain determining the helix face of the initiation site. Genes and Dev 4: 52–62, 1990
Henderson S, Sollner-Webb B: A transcriptional terminator is a novel element of the promoter of the mouse ribosomal RNA gene. Cell 47: 891–900, 1986
McStay B, Reeder R: A termination site for Xenopus RNA polymerase I also acts as an element of an adjacent promoter. Cell 47: 913–920, 1986
Henderson S, Ryan K, Sollner-Webb B: The promoterproximal rDNA terminator augments initiation by preventing disruption of the stable transcription complex caused by polymerase read-in. Genes and Dev 3: 212–223, 1989
Sollner-Webb B, Tower J: Transcription of cloned eukaryotic ribosomal RNA genes. Ann Rev Biochem 55: 801–830, 1986
Pikaard C, Pape L, Henderson S, Ryan K, Paalman M, Lopata M, Reeder R, Sollner-Webb B: Enhancers for RNA polymerase I in mouse ribosomal DNA. Mol Cell Biol 10: 4816–4825, 1990
Reeder R: Enhancers and ribosomal gene spacers. Cell 47: 349–351, 1984
Pape L, Windle J, Mougey E, Sollner-Webb B: The Xenopus rDNA 60/81 by repeats are true 5′ enhancers and function at the establishment of the preinitiation complex: analysis in vivo and in an enhancer-responsive in vitro system. Mol Cell Biol 9: 5093–5104, 1989
Moss T, Birnstiel ML: The putative promoter of a Xenopus laevis ribosomal gene is reduplicated. Nucleic Acids Res 6: 3733–3743, 1979
Sollner-Webb B, Reeder R: The nucleotide sequence of the initiation and termination sites for rRNA transcription in Xenopus laevis. Cell 18: 485–499, 1979
DeWinter RFJ, Moss T: Spacer promoters are essential for efficient enhancement of X. laevis ribosomal transcription. Cell 44: 313–318, 1986
Cassidy B, Yang-Yen H-F, Rothblum L: Additional RNA polymerase I initiation site within the nontranscribed spacer region of the rat rRNA gene. Mol Cell Biol 7: 2388–2396, 1987
Kuhn A, Grummt I: A novel promoter in the mouse rDNA spacer is active in vivo and in vitro. EMBO J 6: 3487–3492, 1987
Tower J, Henderson S, Sollner-Webb B: An RNA polymerase I promoter located in the CHO and mouse rDNA spacers: functional analysis, factor, and sequence requirements. Mol Cell Biol 9: 1513–1525, 1989
Tower J, Sollner-Webb B: Transcription of mouse rDNA is regulated by an activated subform of RNA polymerase I. Cell 50: 873–883, 1987
Sollner-Webb B, Mougey E: News from the nucleolus: rRNA gene expression. T.I.B.S. Invited review, in press, 1990
Mahajan PB, Thompson EA: Hormonal regulation of transcription of rDNA. J Biol Chem 265: 16225–16233, 1990
Schnapp A, Pfleiderer C, Rosenbauer H, Grummt I: A growth-dependent transcription initiation factor (TIF-IA) interacting with RNA polymerase I regulates mouse ribosomal RNA synthesis. EMBO J 9: 2857–2863, 1990
Hansen UM, McClure WR: Role of the sigma subunit of Escherichia coli RNA polymerase in initiation. J Biol Chem 255: 9569–9570, 1980
Payne JM, Laybourn PJ, Dahmus ME: The transition of RNA polymerase II from initiation to elongation associated with phosphorylation of the carboxyl-terminal domain of subunit IIA. J Biol Chem 264: 19621–19629, 1989
Jantzen H-M, Admon A, Bell SP, Tjian R: Nucleolar transcription factor hUBF contains a DNA-binding motif with homology to HMG proteins. Nature 344: 830–836, 1990
Pikaard CS, McStay B, Schultz MC, Bell SP, Reeder RH: The Xenopus ribosomal gene enhancers bind an essential polymerase I transcription factor, xUBF. Genes and Dev 3: 1779–1788, 1989
Miller K, Sollner-Webb B: Transcription of mouse rRNA genes by RNA polymerase I: in vitro and in vivo initiation and processing sites. Cell 27: 165–174, 1981
Gurney T: Characterization of mouse 45S ribosomal RNA subspecies suggests that the first processing cleavage occurs 600 ± 100 nucleotides from the 5′ end and the second 500 ± 100 nucleotides from the 3′ end of a 13.9 kd precursor. Nucleic Acids Res 13: 4905–4919, 1985
Kass S, Sollner-Webb B: The first pre-RNA processing event occurs in a large complex: analysis by gel retardation, sedimentation, and UV crosslinking. Mol Cell Biol 10: 4920–4931, 1990
Craig N, Kass S, Sollner-Webb B: Nucleotide sequence determining the first cleavage site in the processing of mouse precursor ribosomal RNA. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 84: 629–633, 1987
Kass S, Tyc K, Steitz J, Sollner-Webb B: The U3 small nucleolar ribonucleoprotein functions in the first step of pre-ribosomal RNA processing. Cell 60: 897–908, 1990
Miller O, Beatty B: Visualization of nucleolar genes. Science 164: 955–957, 1969
Kass S, Craig N, Sollner-Webb B: The primary processing of mammalian rRNA involves two adjacent cleavages and is not species specific. Mol Cell Biol 7: 2891–2898, 1987
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sollner-Webb, B., Pape, L., Ryan, K. et al. Expression of mouse and frog rRNA genes: transcription and processing. Mol Cell Biochem 104, 149–154 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00229814
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00229814