Summary
ppGpp alters the initiation specificity of RNA polymerase holoenzyme in vitro in a direction which mimics the stringent response in vivo. The transition temperature for opening rRNA promoters is increased by the nucleotide, that for opening ϕ80 promoters is unaffected. This implies that RNA polymerase can discriminate between different types of promoter. ppGpp may act by effecting a structural change in the enzyme.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bahr, W., Standen, W., Scheit, K.H., Jovin, T.M.: Binding of rifampicin to Escherichia coli RNA polymerase. Thermodyna mic and kinetic studies. To be published in: RNA polymerases (M.J. Chamberlin and R. Losick, eds.), New York: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory to be published
Block, R.: To be published in: Control of ribosome synthesis (N.O. Kjeldgaard and O. Maaloe, eds.), Copenhagen, Munksgaard.
Burgess, R.R., Travers, A.A.: DNA-dependent RNA polymerase. In: Procedures in nucleic acid research, Vol. 2 (Cantoni, G.L. and Davies D.R. eds.), pp. 851–863 New York: Harper and Row 1971
Cashel, M.: The control of ribonucleic acid synthesis in Escherichia coli. IV. Relevance of unusual phosphorylated compounds from amino acid starved strains. J. biol. Chem. 244, 3133–3141 (1969)
Cashel, M.: To be published in: Control of Ribosome Synthesis (N.O. Kjeldgaard and O. Maaloe, eds.), Copenhagen, Munksgaard
Chamberlin, M.J.: The selectivity of transcription. Ann. Rev. Biochem. 43, 721–776 (1974)
Fiil, N.P., Meyenburg, K. von, Friesen, J.: Accumulation and turnover of guanosine tetraphosphate in Escherichia coli. J. molec. Biol. 71, 769–783 (1972)
Ginsburg, D., Steitz, J.A.: The 30S ribosomal precursor RNA from E. coli: a primary transcript containing 23S, 16S and 5S sequences. J. biol. Chem. 250, 5647–5654 (1975)
Haseltine, W.A.: In vitro transcription of Escherichia coli ribosomal RNA genes. Nature (Lond.) 235, 329–333 (1972)
Hinkle, D.C., Chamberlin, M.J.: Studies of the binding of Escherichia coli RNA polymerase to DNA. II. The kinetics of the binding reaction J. molec. Biol. 70, 187–195 (1972)
Jorgensen, P., Fiil, N.P.: Ribosomal RNA synthesis in vitro. To be published in: Control of ribosome synthesis (N.O. Kjeldgaard and O. Maaloe, eds.). Copenhagen: Munksgaard to be published
Mangel, W.F., Chamberlin, M.J.: Studies of ribonucleic acid chain initiation by Escherichia coli ribonucleic acid polymerase bound to T7 deoxyribonucleic acid. II. The effect of alterations in ionic strength on chain initiation and on the conformation of binary complexes. J. biol. Chem. 249, 3002–3009 (1974)
Muto, A.: Preferential ribosomal RNA synthesis in the lysate of Escherichia coli. Molec. gen. Genet. 138, 1–10 (1975)
Ohtsubo, E., Soll, L, Deonier, R.C., Lee, H.J., Davidson, N.: Electron microscope heteroduplex studies of sequence relations among plasmids of Escherichia coli. VIII. The structure of bacteriophage ϕ80 d3 ilv+ su+7 including the mapping of the ribosomal RNA genes. J. molec. Biol. 89, 631–646 (1974)
Ooyen, A.J.J. van, Boer, H.A. de, Ab, G., Gruber, M.: Specific inhibition of ribosomal RNA synthesis in vitro by guanosine 3′ diphosphate 5′ diphosphate. Nature (Lond.) 254, 530–531 (1975)
Pettijohn, D.E., Kamiya, T.: Interaction of RNA polymerase with DNA. J. molec. Biol. 29, 275–295 (1967)
Primakoff, P., Berg, P.: Stringent control of transcription of phage ϕ80 psu +3 . Cold Spr. Harb. Symp. quant. Biol. 35, 391–396 (1970)
Reiness, G., Yang, H.-L., Zubay, G., Cashel, M.: Effects of guanosine tetraphosphate on cell-free synthesis of Escherichia coli ribosomal RNA and other gene products. Proc. nat. Acad. Sci. (Wash.) 72, 2881–2885 (1975)
Richardson, J.P.: Some physical properties of RNA polymerase. Proc. nat. Acad. Sci. (Wash.) 55, 1616–1623 (1966)
Schafer, R., Zillig, W., Zechel, K.: A model for the initiation of transcription by DNA-dependent RNA polymerase from Escherichia coli. Europ. J. Biochem., 33, 207–214 (1973)
Stomato, T.D., Pettijohn, D.E.: Regulation of ribosomal RNA synthesis in stringent bacteria. Nature (Lond.) New Biol 234, 99–102 (1971)
Travers, A.: RNA polymerase-promoter interactions, some general principles. Cell 3, 97–104 (1974)
Travers, A.: The ribosomal RNA promoter. Proceedings of 9th FEBS Meeting, pp. 373–376 (1975)
Travers, A., Baralle, F.E.: In vitro transcription of E. coli ribosomal RNA. To be published in: Control of ribosome synthesis (N.O. Kjeldgaard and O. Maaloe, eds.). Copenhagen. Munksgaard to be published
Travers, A., Kamen, R., Cashel, M.: The in vitro synthesis of ribosomal RNA Cold Spr. Harb. Symp. Quant. Biol. 35, 415–418 (1970)
Venetianer, P., Udvardy, A., Sumegi, J.: To be published in: Control of ribosome synthesis (N. O. Kjeldgaard and O. Maaloe, eds.). Copenhagen: Munksgaard
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Communicated by E. Bautz
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Travers, A. Modulation of RNA polymerase specificity by ppGpp. Molec. Gen. Genet. 147, 225–232 (1976). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00267575
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00267575