Activation by NarL at the Escherichia coli ogt promoter
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Authors
Colleges, School and Institutes
External organisations
- Structural Genomics Consortium (United Kingdom), Oxford, United Kingdom.
- BIRMINGHAM CITY UNIVERSITY
Abstract
The Escherichia coli NarX/NarL two-component response regulator system regulates gene expression in response to nitrate ions and the NarL protein is a global transcription factor, which activates transcript initiation at many target promoters. One such target, the E. coliogt promoter, which controls the expression of an O6‑alkylguanine-DNA-alkyltransferase, is dependent on NarL binding to two DNA targets centred at positions -44.5 and -77.5 upstream from the transcript start. Here, we describe ogt promoter derivatives that can be activated solely by NarL binding either at position -44.5 or position -77.5. We show that NarL can also activate the ogt promoter when located at position -67.5. We present data to argue that NarL-dependent activation of transcript initiation at the ogt promoter results from a direct interaction between NarL and a determinant in the C-terminal domain of the RNA polymerase α subunit. Footprinting experiments show that, at the -44.5 promoter, NarL and the C-terminal domain of the RNA polymerase α subunit bind to opposite faces of promoter DNA, suggesting an unusual mechanism of transcription activation. Our work suggests new organisations for activator-dependent transcription at promoters and future applications for biotechnology.
Bibliographic note
Details
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 2807-2820 |
Number of pages | 14 |
Journal | The Biochemical journal |
Volume | 477 |
Issue number | 15 |
Early online date | 7 Aug 2020 |
Publication status | Published - 14 Aug 2020 |
Keywords
- molecular interactions, NarL, promoters, transcription activation