Specific transcription complexes were formed with yeast RNA polymerase I using a cognate oligoribotri-nucleotide primer (GCG) to initiate transcription on short synthetic single-stranded DNA templates. The templates were designed to limit the incorporation of a photoprobe, 4-thiouridine triphosphate, to a single unique position at the 3' terminus of the product RNA (position 12, 13, 14, or 15). The resulting transcription complexes were photolyzed to cross-link the bound transcript (radiolabeled with [alpha-32P]CTP) to the protein with the probe located at the catalytic site. Separation of the protein subunit components by 5% sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and analysis by autoradiography and silver staining revealed that the two largest subunits (A190 and A135) were radiolabeled. The ratio of subunit labeling (A190/A135) decreased as the RNA transcript increased from 12 to 15 nucleotides in length. This decrease in ratio resulted from a progressive reduction of A190 subunit labeling while the A135 subunit derivatization remained essentially constant. It was also observed that the DNA template was radiolabeled.

• PMID: 2159457
• PubMed

Reference Type

Journal Article | Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Authors

Kelly S, Sheng N, Dennis D

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