title: Supercoiling, integration host factor, and a dual promoter system, participate in the control of the bacteriophage lambda pL promoter.
abstract: The high level of efficiency of the bacteriophage lambda pL promoter is dependent upon the topological state of the promoter DNA and the binding of a DNA-bending protein, IHF, to a site centered -86 base-pairs upstream from the pL transcription start site. Abortive initiation assays indicate that DNA supercoiling stimulates open complex formation, whereas IHF enhances promoter recognition. IHF stimulates promoter recognition to the same extent on linear and supercoiled templates. We found that the pL region contains a second promoter, pL2, that initiates transcription 42 base-pairs upstream from pL. Although competitive with pL and inhibited by IHF, mutations in pL2 do not affect the regulation of pL. Stimulation by IHF is helix-face-dependent. IHF inhibits pL when the IHF binding site is displaced a helical half-turn upstream. The pL sequences protected against DNase I digestion by bound IHF and RNA polymerase do not overlap. However, DNase I-hypersensitive sites appear in the region between the two bound proteins. In addition, IHF enhances RNA polymerase binding to pL. These data suggest that stimulation of pL by IHF involves the interaction of IHF and RNA polymerase to form a loop or otherwise distort the DNA between their binding sites.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Genetics, Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Giladi
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Koby
authors.forename: M E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Gottesman
authors.forename: A B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Oppenheim
mesh_terms: D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D010582:Bacteriophage lambda / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D001665:Binding Sites; D004278:DNA, Superhelical / Q000235:genetics*; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000502:physiology*; D012321:DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases / Q000378:metabolism; D015967:Gene Expression Regulation, Viral; D034982:Integration Host Factors; D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004278:DNA, Superhelical; D004279:DNA, Viral; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D034982:Integration Host Factors; D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D012321:DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases