Cloned gene encoding the delta subunit of Bacillus subtilis RNA polymerase.
Core RNA polymerase and several forms of RNA polymerase holoenzyme from Bacillus subtilis are found in association with a 21,500-kDa polypeptide called delta (delta). We have cloned the structural gene (rpoE) for delta by using a hybridization probe a synthetic oligodeoxynucleotide that was designed on the basis of a partial NH2-terminal amino acid (aa) sequence of purified delta protein. The rpoE gene was found to encode a 173-aa polypeptide of a predicted Mr of 20,400. Genetic and physical mapping experiments placed rpoE at 325 degrees on the B. subtilis chromosome and established the gene order rpoE-ctrA-spo0F. The delta subunit is known to enhance the specificity of transcription in vitro by bacterial and phage SP01-modified forms of polymerase, but replacement of rpoE by an in vitro-constructed deletion-mutated gene was found not to impair viability, sporulation, or the growth of phage SP01.
Lampe
M
M
Department of Cellular and Developmental Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138.
Binnie
C
C
Schmidt
R
R
Losick
R
R
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001412:Bacillus subtilis / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004262:DNA Restriction Enzymes; D012321:DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases / Q000235:genetics*; D005796:Genes; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D008970:Molecular Weight
D046911:Macromolecular Substances; D012321:DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases; D004262:DNA Restriction Enzymes