Title
TEFM Enhances Transcription Elongation by Modifying mtRNAP Pausing Dynamics
Date Issued
18 December 2018
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Publisher(s)
Biophysical Society
Abstract
Regulation of transcription elongation is one of the key mechanisms employed to control gene expression. The single-subunit mitochondrial RNA polymerase (mtRNAP) transcribes mitochondrial genes, such as those related to ATP synthesis. We investigated how mitochondrial transcription elongation factor (TEFM) enhances mtRNAP transcription elongation using a single-molecule optical-tweezers transcription assay, which follows transcription dynamics in real time and allows the separation of pause-free elongation from transcriptional pauses. We found that TEFM enhances the stall force of mtRNAP. Although TEFM does not change the pause-free elongation rate, it enhances mtRNAP transcription elongation by reducing the frequency of long-lived pauses and shortening their durations. Furthermore, we demonstrate how mtRNAP passes through the conserved sequence block II, which is the key sequence for the switch between DNA replication and transcription in mitochondria. Our findings elucidate how both TEFM and mitochondrial genomic DNA sequences directly control the transcription elongation dynamics of mtRNAP.
Start page
2295
End page
2300
Volume
115
Issue
12
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Bioquímica, Biología molecular
Biofísica
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85057464569
PubMed ID
Source
Biophysical Journal
ISSN of the container
00063495
Sponsor(s)
This work was supported by the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong ( 16150216 , C6009-15G , and 26100214 to T.I.) and the Office of the Provost, Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies, and Dean of Science, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology ( VPRGO12SC02 to S.D.).
Sources of information:
Directorio de Producción Científica
Scopus