Skip to main content
Log in

An atypical RNA polymerase involved in RNA silencing shares small subunits with RNA polymerase II

  • Brief Communication
  • Published:

From Nature Structural & Molecular Biology

View current issue Submit your manuscript

Abstract

Genetic evidence indicates that plant-specific homologs of DNA-dependent RNA polymerase (Pol) II large subunits form Pol IV and Pol V complexes involved in small interfering RNA production and RNA-directed DNA methylation. Here we describe evidence that Pol V contains subunits shared with Pol II, but that RNA polymerase II subunit (RPB)-4 is missing from Pol V and that RPB5 is present as a Pol V–specific isomer, RPB5b. Pol V also has other proteins that are not present in Pol II, consistent with a role of this complex as an effector of silencing.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Figure 1: Co-immunoprecipitation and western blot to confirm shared Pol II and Pol V subunits.
Figure 2: Molecular phenotype of RPB5b and KTF1 mutants.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Luo, J. & Hall, B.D. J. Mol. Evol. 64, 101–112 (2007).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Wierzbicki, A.T., Haag, J.R. & Pikaard, C.S. Cell 135, 635–648 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Herr, A.J., Jensen, M.B., Dalmay, T. & Baulcombe, D.C. Science 308, 118–120 (2005).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Onodera, Y. et al. Cell 120, 613–622 (2005).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Kanno, T. et al. Nat. Genet. 37, 761–765 (2005).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Mosher, R.A., Schwach, F., Studholme, D. & Baulcombe, D.C. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 105, 3145–3150 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Guilfoyle, T.J. Biochemistry 19, 5966–5972 (1980).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Larkin, R.M., Hagen, G. & Guilfoyle, T.J. Gene 231, 41–47 (1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Hock, J. et al. EMBO Rep. 8, 1052–1060 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Kyrpides, N.C., Woese, C.R. & Ouzounis, C.A. Trends Biochem. Sci. 21, 425–426 (1996).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. El-Shami, M. et al. Genes Dev. 21, 2539–2544 (2007).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Huettel, B. et al. EMBO J. 25, 2828–2836 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Tan, Q., Prysak, M.H. & Woychik, N.A. Mol. Cell. Biol. 23, 3329–3338 (2003).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Armache, K.J., Kettenberger, H. & Cramer, P. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 100, 6964–6968 (2003).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Larkin, R.M. & Guilfoyle, T.J. J. Biol. Chem. 273, 5631–5637 (1998).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Kato, H. et al. Science 309, 467–469 (2005).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Djupedal, I. et al. Genes Dev. 19, 2301–2306 (2005).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank T. Guilfoyle from the University of Missouri-Columbia for providing plant Pol II antibodies and helpful discussions. We thank M. Mann from the Max-Planck-Institut in Martinsried for hosting A.M.E.J. for the analysis of samples S4 and S5. We also thank Arabidopsis T-DNA mutant providers: The Salk Institute, GABI-Kat, the Wisconsin pDS/Lox Project and the Nottingham Arabidopsis Stock Centre. L.H. was partly supported by an Overseas Research Students award and a Marie Curie EST Grant (504273). The Gatsby Charitable Foundation provided funding for this work.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Contributions

D.C.B. and L.H. designed the experiments; L.H., A.M.E.J. and N.C.H. performed immunoprecipitation and MS experiments; K.P., I.S., H.V. and L.H. characterized mutant plants; D.C.B., L.H., A.M.E.J. and I.S. wrote the paper.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to David C Baulcombe.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Text and Figures

Supplementary Figures 1–11, Supplementary Tables 1–6 and Supplementary Methods (PDF 5969 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Huang, L., Jones, A., Searle, I. et al. An atypical RNA polymerase involved in RNA silencing shares small subunits with RNA polymerase II. Nat Struct Mol Biol 16, 91–93 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nsmb.1539

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nsmb.1539

  • Springer Nature America, Inc.

This article is cited by

Navigation