Inactivation of E. coli RNA polymerase by polyriboinosinic acid: heterogeneity of RS complexes.

Polyriboinosinic acid (poly I) inhibits initiation of transcription by binary complexes formed between Adenovirus 2 DNA and E. coli RNA polymerase holoenzyme. In the presence of poly I, just as in the presence of rifampicin, initiation of transcription exhibits a sigmoidal dependence on the temperature at which the binary complexes are formed. This indicates that I (closed) complexes between Ad 2 DNA and RNA polymerase are rapidly inactivated by poly I, but that RS (open) complexes are relatively resistant. However, even among the RS complexes, at least two classes can be distinguished on the basis of the degree to which they are resistant to poly I: RS-1 complexes are somewhat sensitive to poly I (half-time of inactivation approximately 10 min) while RS-2 complexes are almost completely resistant to the inhibitor (half-time of inactivation approximately 10 h). For both types of RS complex, the degree of sensitivity to poly I is ionic strength-dependent.