Cooperative relaxation of supercoils and periodic transcriptional initiation within polymerase batteries

BioEssays : News and Reviews in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology
P Guptasarma

Abstract

Transcription and DNA supercoiling are known to be linked by a cause-effect relationship that operates in both directions. It is proposed here that this two-way relationship may be exploited by the E. coli genome to facilitate constitutive transcription of supercoil-sensitive genes by polymerase batteries made up of uniformly spaces RNA polymerase elongation complexes. Specifically, it is argued that (1) polymerases transcribing DNA in tandem cooperate to relax each other's transcription-driven positive supercoils; and (2) negative supercoils driven upstream by elongation complexes tend to be 'harnessed' and used to cooperatively (and periodically) initiate fresh transcription from promoters. Harnessing of transcription-driven negative supercoils is thought to be achieved through the erection of protein barriers to the rotational upstream propagation of supercoils from transcription events. The possible relevance of such cooperation amongst polymerases to the activation of transcription by DNA-binding protein factors is emphasized. Some testable predictions are made and implications are discussed.

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Citations

May 27, 1999·Electrophoresis·I Humphery-Smith
Aug 1, 1997·Electrophoresis·I Humphery-SmithW P Blackstock
Aug 1, 1997·Electrophoresis·V C WasingerI Humphery-Smith
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Dec 10, 2019·BioEssays : News and Reviews in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology·Sangjin Kim
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Sep 23, 2021·Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics : PCCP·Alena Klindziuk, Anatoly B Kolomeisky
Dec 4, 2021·Physical Review Letters·Purba ChatterjeeSangjin Kim

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