Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Kapanidis AN
PROVIDER: S-EPMC2754788 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Nov
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Science (New York, N.Y.) 20061101 5802
Using fluorescence resonance energy transfer to monitor distances within single molecules of abortively initiating transcription initiation complexes, we show that initial transcription proceeds through a "scrunching" mechanism, in which RNA polymerase (RNAP) remains fixed on promoter DNA and pulls downstream DNA into itself and past its active center. We show further that putative alternative mechanisms for RNAP active-center translocation in initial transcription, involving "transient excursio ...[more]