title: RNA polymerase induces DNA bending at yeast mitochondrial promoters.
abstract: Yeast mitochondrial RNA polymerase can bind specifically to promoter-containing DNA fragments in vitro as detected by DNAse I or methidiumpropyl-EDTA. Fe(II) protection assays and gel retardation experiments. Retardation of RNA polymerase-DNA complexes was most pronounced when the promoter was located in the middle of a DNA fragment and was diminished when RNA polymerase was bound near one of the ends. This indicates that upon RNA polymerase-binding the DNA undergoes a conformational change which is most likely a bend. The degree of introduced bending correlated with the efficiency of transcription and promoter-binding in a series of promoter mutants, suggesting that bending is a functional event during promoter utilisation.
mesh_terms: D004252:DNA Mutational Analysis; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D012321:DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases / Q000378:metabolism*; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D011485:Protein Binding; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000235:genetics; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D012321:DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases