title: Relatedness of archaebacterial RNA polymerase core subunits to their eubacterial and eukaryotic equivalents.
abstract: The sequence of the genes encoding the four largest subunits of the RNA polymerase of the archaebacterium Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum was determined and putative translation signals were identified. The genes are more strongly homologous to eukaryotic than to eubacterial RNA polymerase genes. Analysis of the polypeptide sequences revealed colinearity of two pairs of adjacent archaebacterial genes encoding the B" and B' or A and C genes, respectively, with two eubacterial and two eukaryotic genes each encoding the two largest RNA polymerase subunits. This difference in sequence organization is discussed in terms of gene fusion in the course of evolution. The degree of conservation is much higher between the archaebacterial and the eukaryotic polypeptides than between the archaebacterial and the eubacterial enzyme. Putative functional domains were identified in two of the subunits of the archaebacterial enzyme.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Philipps-University, Marburg, FRG.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Berghöfer
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kröckel
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Körtner
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Truss
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schallenberg
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Klein
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism; D001483:Base Sequence; D002477:Cells / Q000201:enzymology*; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000378:metabolism; D012321:DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism; D005057:Eukaryotic Cells / Q000201:enzymology*; D019605:Euryarchaeota / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010455:Peptides / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; C033365:DNA receptor; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D010455:Peptides; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface; D012321:DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases