Abstract
In order to look more closely at a well-conserved region in T7 RNA polymerase (T7 RNAP) containing, as shown earlier, the functionally essential residues Pro-563 and Tyr-571, we used targeted mutagenesis to change those residues within this region that are invariant in all single-subunit RNA polymerases, and characterized the mutant enzymes in vitro. The most interesting finding of this study was the crucial importance of the acidic group of Asp-569. In addition, we have shown that the phenolic ring is the most significant functional group of Tyr-571, with the hydroxy group also contributing to promoter binding.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bonner G, Patra D, Lafer EM, Sousa R (1992) Mutations in T7 RNA polymerase that support the proposal for a common polymerase active site structure. EMBO J 11:3767–3775
Delarue M, Poch O, Tordo N, Moras D, Argos P (1990) An attempt to unify the structure of polymerases. Prot Engin 3:461–467
Gross L, Chen W-J, McAllister WT (1992) Characterization of bacteriophage T7 RNA polymerase by linker insertion mutagenesis. J Mol Biol 228:488–505
Ikeda RA, Ligman CM, Warshamana S (1992) T7 promoter contacts essential for promoter activity in vivo. Nucleic Acids Res 20:2517–2524
Kunkel TA, Roberts JD, Zakour RA (1987) Rapid and efficient site-specific mutagenesis without phenotypic selection. Meth Enzymol 154:367–382
Lyakhov DL, Ilgenfritz H, Chernov BK, Dragan SM, Rechinsky VO, Pokholok DK, Tunitskaya VL, Kochetkov SN (1992) Site-directed mutagenesis of Lys-172 residue of T7 RNA polymerase: characterization of the transcription properties of mutant proteins. Mol Biol (Moscow) 26:1022–1035
Maksimova TG, Mustaev AA, Zaychikov EF, Lyakhov DL, Tunitskaya VL, Akbarov AKh, Luchin SV, Rechinsky VO, Chernov BK, Kochetkov SN (1991) Lys631 residue in the active site of the bacteriophage T7 RNA polymerase. Affinity labeling and site-directed mutagenesis. Eur J Biochem 195:841–847
McAllister WT, Raskin CA (1993) The phage RNA polymerases are related to DNA polymerases and reverse transcriptases. Mol Microbiol 10:1–6
Osumi-Davis PA, de Aguilera MC, Woody RW, Woody A-YM. (1992) Asp537, Asp812 are essential and Lys631, His811 are catalytically significant in T7 RNA polymerase activity. J Mol Biol 226:37–45
Patra D, Lafer EM, Sousa R (1992) Isolation and characterization of mutant bacteriophage T7 RNA polymerase. J Mol Biol 224:307–318
Rechinsky VO, Kostyuk DA, Lyakhov DL, Chernov BK, Kochetkov SN (1993a) Random mutagenesis of the gene for bacteriophage T7 RNA polymerase. Mol Gen Genet 238:455–458
Rechinsky VO, Tunitskaya VL, Dragan SM, Kostyuk DA, Kochetkov SN (1993b) Tyr-571 is involved in the T7 RNA polymerase binding to its promoter. FEBS Lett 320:9–12
Sambrook J, Fritsch EF, Maniatis T (1989) Molecular cloning: a laboratory manual (2nd edn). Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Cold Spring Harbor, New York
Sousa R, Chang YJ, Rose JP, Wang B-C (1993) Crystal structure of bacteriophage RNA polymerase at 3.3 Å resolution. Nature 364:593–599
Tabor R, Richardson CC (1987) DNA sequence analysis with a modified bacteriophage T7 DNA polymerase. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 84:4767–4771
Tunitskaya VL, Mishin AA, Tyurkin VV, Lyakhov DL, Rechinsky VO, Kochetkov SN (1988) Affinity modification of bacteriophage T7 DNA-dependent RNA polymerase by 5′-p-fluorosulfonylbenzoyl-adenosine. Mol Biol (Moscow) 22:1642–1649
Tunitskaya VL, Dragan SM, Kostyuk DA, Lyakhov DL, Memelova LV, Rechinsky VO, Kochetkov SN (1994) Functional studies of bacteriophage T7 RNA polymerase point mutants containing amino acid substitutions in motif B of the enzyme active site. Biokhimiya (Moscow) 59:494–502
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Communicated by G. P. Georgiev
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Rechinsky, V.O., Chernov, B.K., Dragan, S.M. et al. Targeted mutagenesis identifies Asp-569 as a catalytically critical residue in T7 RNA polymerase. Molec. Gen. Genet. 247, 110–113 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00425827
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00425827