Journal
CELL
Volume 115, Issue 4, Pages 437-447Publisher
CELL PRESS
DOI: 10.1016/S0092-8674(03)00845-6
Keywords
-
Categories
Funding
- NIGMS NIH HHS [R01 GM057035-08] Funding Source: Medline
Ask authors/readers for more resources
RNA polymerase (RNAP) transcribes DNA discontinuously, with periods of rapid nucleotide addition punctuated by frequent pauses. We investigated the mechanism of transcription by measuring the effect of both hindering and assisting forces on the translocation of single Escherichia coli transcription elongation complexes, using an optical trapping apparatus that allows for the detection of pauses as short as one second. We found that the vast majority of pauses are brief (1-6 s at 21degreesC, 1 mM NTPs), and that the probability of pausing at any particular position on a DNA template is low and fairly constant. Neither the probability nor the duration of these ubiquitous pauses was affected by hindering or assisting loads, establishing that they do not result from the backtracking of RNAP along the DNA template. We propose instead that they are caused by a structural rearrangement within the enzyme.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available