Coordinated regulation of gene expression by E ... - Jacobs University
Coordinated regulation of gene expression by E ... - Jacobs University
Coordinated regulation of gene expression by E ... - Jacobs University
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RESULTS<br />
Both ∆61 wild-type and ∆61 D constructs had low activity at low superhelical<br />
density, about tenfold higher activity at near physiological density and a lower, but<br />
intermediate, activity on hypernegatively supercoiled plasmid. However the two<br />
promoters differed in their response to varying superhelicity in the presence <strong>of</strong> the UAS.<br />
The wild-type promoter had an enhanced response to superhelicity. Again the promoter<br />
lacked significant activity at low superhelicity but was strongly activated at nearphysiological<br />
superhelical density and notably, activity was further increased with the<br />
hypernegatively supercoiled plasmid, similar to the effect observed <strong>by</strong> Bowater et al<br />
[Bowater et al., 1994]. However, with the discriminator mutant the presence UAS<br />
substantially increased promoter activity at all superhelical densities tested but did not<br />
alter the pr<strong>of</strong>ile <strong>of</strong> the response. In sharp contrast the activities <strong>of</strong> the tyrTS and tyrT35U<br />
mutant promoters lacking the UAS were much less dependent on variations in<br />
superhelicity with both <strong>of</strong> these promoters exhibiting high activity in vivo at low<br />
superhelical density. Thus the loss <strong>of</strong> dependence on supercoiling was accompanied <strong>by</strong><br />
a comparable loss <strong>of</strong> dependence on the UAS containing FIS binding sites. The relative<br />
activities <strong>of</strong> the promoters in this <strong>gene</strong>tic background differ somewhat from those<br />
observed in CSH50 as also did the dependence <strong>of</strong> the activity <strong>of</strong> the discriminator<br />
mutant on the UAS.<br />
3.2.4 Dependence <strong>of</strong> promoter activity on superhelical density in<br />
vitro<br />
The in vivo results on the supercoiling sensitivity <strong>of</strong> promoter constructs were verified<br />
<strong>by</strong> in vitro transcription assays with truncated wild-type and mutant promoter<br />
constructs. Transcription was performed using supercoiled and linearized templates. We<br />
observed higher levels <strong>of</strong> transcription from mutants compared to the wild-type on<br />
linearized template, while transcription <strong>of</strong> supercoiled template is comparable between<br />
the wild-type and the mutants (Figure 19). Of all the mutants, 35U shows highest<br />
activity on the linear template and is also least sensitive to changes <strong>of</strong> supercoiling as<br />
seen in the in vivo experiments (Figure 18).<br />
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