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Genetic studies on the β subunit of Escherichia coli RNA polymerase

I. The effect of known, single amino acid substitutions in an essential protein

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Summary

The use of five different nonsense suppressors, in conjunction with a collection of 95 independent, spontaneously-occurring amber mutants affecting expression of rpoB, allows the generation of a maximum of 475 potential variants of the β subunit of E. coli RNA polymerase, each carrying a known amino acid substitution at a particular site. The effect of these amino acid exchanges has been investigated in vivo. A significant majority (363/475) of substitutions lead to cellular death and altered properties —temperature sensitivity, apparently altered transcription termination and a changed stringent response—indicating that RNA polymerase function (unlike that of dispensible proteins) is extremely sensitive to such single site changes.

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  1. Department of Biochemistry, Queen's Medical Centre, Clifton Boulevard, NG7 2UH, Nottingham, United Kingdom

    Vishvanath Nene & Robert E. Glass

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  1. Vishvanath Nene
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  2. Robert E. Glass
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Communicated by K. Isono

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Nene, V., Glass, R.E. Genetic studies on the β subunit of Escherichia coli RNA polymerase. Mol Gen Genet 188, 399–404 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00330040

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