IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/nature/v565y2019i7739d10.1038_s41586-018-0840-5.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Structures of an RNA polymerase promoter melting intermediate elucidate DNA unwinding

Author

Listed:
  • Hande Boyaci

    (The Rockefeller University)

  • James Chen

    (The Rockefeller University)

  • Rolf Jansen

    (Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research)

  • Seth A. Darst

    (The Rockefeller University)

  • Elizabeth A. Campbell

    (The Rockefeller University)

Abstract

A key regulated step of transcription is promoter melting by RNA polymerase (RNAP) to form the open promoter complex1–3. To generate the open complex, the conserved catalytic core of the RNAP combines with initiation factors to locate promoter DNA, unwind 12–14 base pairs of the DNA duplex and load the template-strand DNA into the RNAP active site. Formation of the open complex is a multi-step process during which transient intermediates of unknown structure are formed4–6. Here we present cryo-electron microscopy structures of bacterial RNAP–promoter DNA complexes, including structures of partially melted intermediates. The structures show that late steps of promoter melting occur within the RNAP cleft, delineate key roles for fork-loop 2 and switch 2—universal structural features of RNAP—in restricting access of DNA to the RNAP active site, and explain why clamp opening is required to allow entry of single-stranded template DNA into the active site. The key roles of fork-loop 2 and switch 2 suggest a common mechanism for late steps in promoter DNA opening to enable gene expression across all domains of life.

Suggested Citation

  • Hande Boyaci & James Chen & Rolf Jansen & Seth A. Darst & Elizabeth A. Campbell, 2019. "Structures of an RNA polymerase promoter melting intermediate elucidate DNA unwinding," Nature, Nature, vol. 565(7739), pages 382-385, January.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:565:y:2019:i:7739:d:10.1038_s41586-018-0840-5
    DOI: 10.1038/s41586-018-0840-5
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0840-5
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41586-018-0840-5?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Linggang Yuan & Qingyang Liu & Liqiao Xu & Bing Wu & Yu Feng, 2024. "Structural basis of promoter recognition by Staphylococcus aureus RNA polymerase," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-9, December.
    2. Jie Li & Haonan Zhang & Dongyu Li & Ya-Jun Liu & Edward A. Bayer & Qiu Cui & Yingang Feng & Ping Zhu, 2023. "Structure of the transcription open complex of distinct σI factors," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-12, December.
    3. Zakia Morichaud & Stefano Trapani & Rishi K. Vishwakarma & Laurent Chaloin & Corinne Lionne & Joséphine Lai-Kee-Him & Patrick Bron & Konstantin Brodolin, 2023. "Structural basis of the mycobacterial stress-response RNA polymerase auto-inhibition via oligomerization," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-13, December.
    4. Dingwei He & Linlin You & Xiaoxian Wu & Jing Shi & Aijia Wen & Zhi Yan & Wenhui Mu & Chengli Fang & Yu Feng & Yu Zhang, 2022. "Pseudomonas aeruginosa SutA wedges RNAP lobe domain open to facilitate promoter DNA unwinding," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:565:y:2019:i:7739:d:10.1038_s41586-018-0840-5. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.