title: In vitro transcription termination activity of the Drosophila mitochondrial DNA-binding protein DmTTF.
abstract: DmTTF is a Drosophila melanogaster mitochondrial DNA-binding protein which binds specifically to two homologous non-coding sequences located at the 3' ends of blocks of genes encoded on opposite strands. In order to test whether this protein acts as transcription termination factor, we assayed the capacity of DmTTF to arrest in vitro the transcription catalyzed by mitochondrial and bacteriophage RNA polymerases. Experiments with human S-100 extracts showed that DmTTF is able to arrest the transcription catalyzed by human mitochondrial RNA polymerase bidirectionally, independently of the orientation of the protein-DNA complex. On the contrary when T3 or T7 RNA polymerases were used, we found that DmTTF prevalently arrests transcription when the DNA-binding site was placed in the reverse orientation with respect to the incoming enzymes. These results demonstrate that DmTTF is a transcription termination factor with a biased polarity and suggest that the DNA-bound protein is structurally asymmetrical, exposing two different faces to RNA polymerases travelling on opposite directions.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Biochimica e Biologia Molecolare, Università degli Studi di Bari, Via Orabona, 4, 70125 Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Roberti
authors.forename: Patricio
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Fernandez-Silva
authors.forename: Paola Loguercio
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Polosa
authors.forename: Erika
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fernandez-Vizarra
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bruni
authors.forename: Stefania
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Deceglie
authors.forename: Julio
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Montoya
authors.forename: Maria Nicola
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Gadaleta
authors.forename: Palmiro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cantatore
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D029721:Drosophila Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D004331:Drosophila melanogaster / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D024101:Mitochondrial Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D029721:Drosophila Proteins; D024101:Mitochondrial Proteins; C501534:mTTF protein, Drosophila