Yeast DEAD box protein Mss116p is a transcription elongation factor that modulates the activity of mitochondrial RNA polymerase.

ABSTRACT: DEAD box proteins have been widely implicated in regulation of gene expression. Here, we show that the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae DEAD box protein Mss116p, previously known as a mitochondrial splicing factor, also acts as a transcription factor that modulates the activity of the single-subunit mitochondrial RNA polymerase encoded by RPO41. Binding of Mss116p stabilizes paused mitochondrial RNA polymerase elongation complexes in vitro and favors the posttranslocated state of the enzyme, resulting in a lower concentration of nucleotide substrate required to escape the pause; this mechanism of action is similar to that of elongation factors that enhance the processivity of multisubunit RNA polymerases. In a yeast strain in which the RNA splicing-related functions of Mss116p are dispensabl

SUBMITTER: Markov DA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4054322 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature