Aranda A, Proudfoot N J
Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3RE, United Kingdom.
Mol Cell Biol. 1999 Feb;19(2):1251-61. doi: 10.1128/MCB.19.2.1251.
Downstream elements (DSEs) with transcriptional pausing activity play an important role in transcription termination of RNA polymerase II. We have defined two such DSEs in Schizosaccharomyces pombe, one for the ura4 gene and a new one in the 3'-end region of the nmt2 gene. Although these DSEs do not have sequence homology, both are orientation specific and are composed of multiple and redundant sequence elements that work together to achieve full pausing activity. Previous studies on the nmt1 and nmt2 genes revealed that transcription extends several kilobases past the genes' poly(A) sites. We show that the insertion of either DSE immediately downstream of the nmt1 poly(A) site induces more immediate termination. nmt2 termination efficiency can be increased by moving the DSE closer to the poly(A) site. These results suggest that DSEs may be a common feature in yeast genes.
具有转录暂停活性的下游元件(DSEs)在RNA聚合酶II的转录终止过程中发挥着重要作用。我们在粟酒裂殖酵母中定义了两个这样的DSEs,一个针对ura4基因,另一个位于nmt2基因3'端区域。尽管这些DSEs没有序列同源性,但它们都是方向特异性的,并且由多个冗余的序列元件组成,这些元件共同作用以实现完全的暂停活性。先前对nmt1和nmt2基因的研究表明,转录会延伸到基因的聚腺苷酸化位点下游数千个碱基处。我们发现,在nmt1聚腺苷酸化位点下游紧邻插入任何一个DSE都会诱导更快速的终止。将DSE移近聚腺苷酸化位点可以提高nmt2的终止效率。这些结果表明,DSEs可能是酵母基因中的一个共同特征。