Chemical-genetic interrogation of RNA polymerase mutants reveals structure-function relationships and physiological tradeoffs.

ABSTRACT: The multi-subunit bacterial RNA polymerase (RNAP) and its associated regulators carry out transcription and integrate myriad regulatory signals. Numerous studies have interrogated RNAP mechanism, and RNAP mutations drive Escherichia coli adaptation to many health- and industry-relevant environments, yet a paucity of systematic analyses hampers our understanding of the fitness trade-offs from altering RNAP function. Here, we conduct a chemical-genetic analysis of a library of RNAP mutants. We discover phenotypes for non-essential insertions, show that clustering mutant phenotypes increases their predictive power for drawing functional inferences, and demonstrate that some RNA polymerase mutants both decrease average cell length and prevent killing by cell-wall targeting antibiotics. Our fin

SUBMITTER: Shiver AL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8484514 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature