title: Nucleic acid-binding regions of the second-largest subunit of Drosophila RNA polymerase II identified by southwestern blotting.
abstract: Analysing overlapping bacterially expressed fragments of the second-largest subunit of Drosophila melanogaster RNA polymerase II in Southwestern DNA binding assays we have identified regions that have the potential to bind nucleic acids non-specifically. A region exhibiting strong DNA binding is located in the N-terminal part of the molecule (amino acids 357-504) and some weak DNA binding is observed for the C-terminal part (amino acids 860-1160). The non-specific DNA binding behavior of these regions is similar to that of the native enzyme. Most of the known mutations responsible for rifampicin resistance map to a region of the Escherichia coli beta subunit corresponding to the N-terminal nucleic acid-binding region, indirectly supporting the notion that this region participates in interaction with the RNA transcript in ternary complexes.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular Genetics, University of Heidelberg, Germany.
authors.forename: R E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Kontermann
authors.forename: E K
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Bautz
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D001665:Binding Sites; D015139:Blotting, Southern; D015153:Blotting, Western; D004247:DNA / Q000378:metabolism*; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000201:enzymology*; D007526:Isoelectric Point; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D012319:RNA Polymerase II / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D001616:beta-Galactosidase / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D004247:DNA; D012319:RNA Polymerase II; D001616:beta-Galactosidase