title: Negative supercoiling induces spontaneous unwinding of a bacterial promoter.
abstract: We have examined the influence of negative supercoiling on the DNA structure of a bacterial promoter (tyrT from Escherichia coli), the transcriptional activity of which is strongly enhanced by torsional stress in vitro. Certain regions of this promoter become sensitive to digestion by single-strand-specific S1 nuclease as a consequence of negative superhelicity. These regions occur with high frequency (1 per 30-50 bp) and are normally centered on a TpA doublet. The major positions of cleavage are located in and around the -10 sequence TATGATG, the unwinding of which is a prerequisite for gene expression. An apparently trivial change in the -10 sequence from TATGATG to TATGAAG reduces both transcriptional activity and S1 nuclease sensitivity at least 10-fold. Thus the nuclease sensitivity of the promoter correlates strongly with its biological function; and both of these phenomena correlate with certain sequence-dependent structural properties of the DNA.
authors.forename: H R
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Drew
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Weeks
authors.forename: A A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Travers
mesh_terms: D004262:DNA Restriction Enzymes; D004278:DNA, Superhelical / Q000235:genetics*; D004720:Endonucleases; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics*; D009154:Mutation; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D009876:Operon; D015719:Single-Strand Specific DNA and RNA Endonucleases; D013045:Species Specificity; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D004278:DNA, Superhelical; D004720:Endonucleases; D004262:DNA Restriction Enzymes; D015719:Single-Strand Specific DNA and RNA Endonucleases