title: Identification of an ortholog of the eukaryotic RNA polymerase III subunit RPC34 in Crenarchaeota and Thaumarchaeota suggests specialization of RNA polymerases for coding and non-coding RNAs in Archaea.
abstract: One of the hallmarks of eukaryotic information processing is the co-existence of 3 distinct, multi-subunit RNA polymerase complexes that are dedicated to the transcription of specific classes of coding or non-coding RNAs. Archaea encode only one RNA polymerase that resembles the eukaryotic RNA polymerase II with respect to the subunit composition. Here we identify archaeal orthologs of the eukaryotic RNA polymerase III subunit RPC34. Genome context analysis supports a function of this archaeal protein in the transcription of non-coding RNAs. These findings suggest that functional separation of RNA polymerases for protein-coding genes and non-coding RNAs might predate the origin of the Eukaryotes.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Microbiology, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands. fabian.blombach@wur.nl
authors.forename: Fabian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Blombach
authors.forename: Kira S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Makarova
authors.forename: Jeannette
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Marrero
authors.forename: Bettina
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Siebers
authors.forename: Eugene V
authors.initials: EV
authors.lastname: Koonin
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: van der Oost
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D019615:Crenarchaeota / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D005057:Eukaryotic Cells / Q000201:enzymology*; D020745:Genome, Archaeal / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D021122:Protein Subunits / Q000737:chemistry*; D012320:RNA Polymerase III / Q000737:chemistry*; D019642:RNA, Archaeal / Q000378:metabolism*; D022661:RNA, Untranslated / Q000378:metabolism*; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D021122:Protein Subunits; D019642:RNA, Archaeal; D022661:RNA, Untranslated; D012320:RNA Polymerase III