Abstract
Employing a newly developed uranyl photofootprinting technique (Nielsen et al. (1988) FEBS Lett. 235, 122), we have analyzed the structure of the E. coli RNA polymerase deoP1 promoter open complex. The results show strong polymerase DNA backbone contacts in the -40, -10, and most notably in the +10 region. These results suggest that unwinding of the -12 to +3 region of the promoter in the open complex is mediated through polymerase DNA backbone contacts on both sides of this region. The pattern of bases that are hyperreactive towards KMnO4 or uranyl within the -12 to +3 region furthermore argues against a model in which this region is simply unwound and/or single stranded. The results indicate specific protein contacts and/or a fixed DNA conformation within the -12 to +3 region.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Journal | Nucleic Acids Research |
| Volume | 17 |
| Issue number | 13 |
| Pages (from-to) | 4947-56 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| ISSN | 0305-1048 |
| Publication status | Published - 11 Jul 1989 |
Keywords
- Base Sequence
- DNA, Bacterial/genetics
- DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases/metabolism
- Edetic Acid
- Escherichia coli/enzymology
- Models, Molecular
- Molecular Sequence Data
- Nucleic Acid Conformation
- Nucleotide Mapping/methods
- Plasmids
- Promoter Regions, Genetic
- Protein Binding
- Uranium