Bacillus subtilis RNase III gene: cloning, function of the gene in Escherichia coli, and construction of Bacillus subtilis strains with altered rnc loci.
The rnc gene of Bacillus subtilis, which has 36% amino acid identity with the gene that encodes Escherichia coli RNase III endonuclease, was cloned in E. coli and shown by functional assays to encode B. subtilis RNase III (Bs-RNase III). The cloned B. subtilis rnc gene could complement an E. coli rnc strain that is deficient in rRNA processing, suggesting that Bs-RNase III is involved in rRNA processing in B. subtilis. Attempts to construct a B. subtilis rnc null mutant were unsuccessful, but a strain was constructed in which only a carboxy-terminal truncated version of Bs-RNase III was expressed. The truncated Bs-RNase III showed virtually no activity in vitro but was active in vivo. Analysis of expression of a copy of the rnc gene integrated at the amy locus and transcribed from a p(spac) promoter suggested that expression of the B. subtilis rnc is under regulatory control.
Wang
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Department of Biochemistry, Mount Sinai School of Medicine of the City University of New York, New York 10029, USA.
Bechhofer
D H
DH
D001412:Bacillus subtilis / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004722:Endoribonucleases / Q000235:genetics*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D005816:Genetic Complementation Test; D016296:Mutagenesis; D009876:Operon; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012323:RNA Processing, Post-Transcriptional; D043244:Ribonuclease III
D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D004722:Endoribonucleases; D043244:Ribonuclease III; C468366:ribonuclease III, E coli