Evolutionary divergence of the mRNA transcription initiation mechanism in yeast

The promoters of eukaryotic genes are being increasingly defined through the identification of consensus DNA sequences, by mutational analysis, and by in vitro and in vivo studies of transcription 1–4 . Whereas the TATA sequence (Goldberg–Hogness box) has been largely conserved among protein encodin...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature (London) 1983-01, Vol.301 (5896), p.167-169
Main Author: Russell, Paul R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Base Sequence
Biological and medical sciences
Biological Evolution
Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel
Endonucleases - metabolism
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Humanities and Social Sciences
letter
Molecular and cellular biology
Molecular genetics
multidisciplinary
RNA, Messenger - metabolism
Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Saccharomyces cerevisiae - genetics
Schizosaccharomyces pombe
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Single-Strand Specific DNA and RNA Endonucleases
Transcription, Genetic
Transcription. Transcription factor. Splicing. Rna processing
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Summary:The promoters of eukaryotic genes are being increasingly defined through the identification of consensus DNA sequences, by mutational analysis, and by in vitro and in vivo studies of transcription 1–4 . Whereas the TATA sequence (Goldberg–Hogness box) has been largely conserved among protein encoding genes (transcribed by RNA polymerase II) of eukaryotes 5,6 , there is some evidence that other structural and functional determinants of mRNA transcription are not conserved between species 7,9 . I report here an in vivo comparative analysis of the transcription initiation systems of the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and the fission yeast Schizosaccharmyces pombe (which can both be transformed by identical plasmids 10 ). I have found no instance in which a gene is transcribed in the same fashion in both yeasts. Instead, I have found that the in vivo transcription starting points for many different yeast genes are determined by the cell in which it is transcribed rather than its gene structure alone. The evidence also suggests that the divergence of the transcription initiation system may partly involve the mechanism or structure which determines the distance from the TATA consensus sequence to the site of transcription initiation.
ISSN:0028-0836
1476-4687
DOI:10.1038/301167a0