title: A non-canonical multisubunit RNA polymerase encoded by the AR9 phage recognizes the template strand of its uracil-containing promoters.
abstract: AR9 is a giant Bacillus subtilis phage whose uracil-containing double-stranded DNA genome encodes distant homologs of β and β' subunits of bacterial RNA polymerase (RNAP). The products of these genes are thought to assemble into two non-canonical multisubunit RNAPs - a virion RNAP (vRNAP) that is injected into the host along with phage DNA to transcribe early phage genes, and a non-virion RNAP (nvRNAP), which is synthesized during the infection and transcribes late phage genes. We purified the AR9 nvRNAP from infected B. subtilis cells and characterized its transcription activity in vitro. The AR9 nvRNAP requires uracils rather than thymines at specific conserved positions of late viral promoters. Uniquely, the nvRNAP recognizes the template strand of its promoters and is capable of specific initiation of transcription from both double- and single-stranded DNA. While the AR9 nvRNAP does not contain homologs of bacterial RNAP α subunits, it contains, in addition to the β and β'-like subunits, a phage protein gp226. The AR9 nvRNAP lacking gp226 is catalytically active but unable to bind to promoter DNA. Thus, gp226 is required for promoter recognition by the AR9 nvRNAP and may represent a new group of transcription initiation factors.
authors.affiliation: Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, Skolkovo, 143025, Russia.|Peter the Great St.Petersburg Polytechnic University, Saint-Petersburg, 195251, Russia.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sokolova
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology, Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine at Stratford, Stratford, NJ 08084-1489, USA.
authors.forename: Sergei
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Borukhov
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular Genetics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 123182, Russia.|Institute of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, Smolensk State Medical University, Smolensk, 214019, Russia.
authors.forename: Daria
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lavysh
authors.affiliation: Peter the Great St.Petersburg Polytechnic University, Saint-Petersburg, 195251, Russia.
authors.forename: Tatjana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Artamonova
authors.affiliation: Peter the Great St.Petersburg Polytechnic University, Saint-Petersburg, 195251, Russia.
authors.forename: Mikhail
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Khodorkovskii
authors.affiliation: Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, Skolkovo, 143025, Russia.|Peter the Great St.Petersburg Polytechnic University, Saint-Petersburg, 195251, Russia.|Institute of Molecular Genetics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 123182, Russia.|Waksman Institute of Microbiology, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA.
authors.forename: Konstantin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Severinov
mesh_terms: D017103:Bacillus Phages / Q000201:enzymology*; D001412:Bacillus subtilis / Q000821:virology; D001665:Binding Sites; D016384:Consensus Sequence; D018983:DNA Footprinting; D004277:DNA, Single-Stranded / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D012321:DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*; D005814:Genes, Viral; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*; D055503:Protein Multimerization; D021122:Protein Subunits; D013379:Substrate Specificity; D013698:Templates, Genetic; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D014498:Uracil / Q000737:chemistry; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D004277:DNA, Single-Stranded; D004279:DNA, Viral; D021122:Protein Subunits; D014764:Viral Proteins; D014498:Uracil; D012321:DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases