Abstract
A CENTRAL event in transcription is the assembly on DNA of specific complexes near the initiation sites for RNA synthesis. Activation of transcription by one class of enhancer-binding proteins requires an RNA polymerase holoenzyme' containing the specialized transcription factor, sigma-54 (σ54). We report here that σ54 alone specifically binds to promoter DNA and is responsible for many of the close contacts between RNA polymerase holoenzyme and promoter DNA, a property proposed for the major σ70 protein family. Binding of σ54 to promoter DNA is not equivalent to that of holoenzyme suggesting that there is a constraint on σ54 conformation when bound with core RNA polymerase. Footprints indicate σ54 is at the leading edge of DNA-bound holoenzyme. Like the holoenzyme1–4, σ54-binding to promoter DNA does not result in DNA strand separation. Instead the specific DNA-binding activity of σ54 assists assembly of a closed promoter complex. This complex can be isomerized to the open (DNA melted) complex by activator protein5,6, but promoter-bound σ54 alone cannot be induced to melt DNA. The pathway leading to productive transcription is similar to that proposed for eukaryotic RNA polymerase II systems.
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Buck, M., Cannon, W. Specific binding of the transcription factor sigma-54 to promoter DNA. Nature 358, 422 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1038/358422a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/358422a0
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