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Low Resolution Structure of the ς54 Transcription Factor Revealed by X-ray Solution Scattering

2000; Elsevier BV; Volume: 275; Issue: 6 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1074/jbc.275.6.4210

1083-351X

Dmitri I. Svergun, Marc Malfois, Michel H. J. Koch, Sivaramesh Wigneshweraraj, Martin Buck,

Bacterial Genetics and Biotechnology

The ς54 RNA polymerase holoenzyme functions in enhancer-dependent transcription. The structural organization of the ς54 subunit of bacterial RNA polymerase in solution is analyzed by synchrotron x-ray scattering. Scattering patterns are collected from the full-length protein and from a large fragment able to bind the core RNA polymerase, and their low resolution shapes are restored using two ab initio shape determination techniques. The ς54 subunit is a highly elongated particle, and the core binding fragment can be unambiguously positioned inside the full-length protein. The boomerang-like shape of the core binding fragment is similar to that of the atomic model of a fragment of theEscherichia coli ς70 protein, indicating that, although the ς54 and ς70 factors are unrelated by primary sequence, they may share some structural similarity. Potential DNA binding surfaces of ς54 are also predicted by comparison with the ς54 core binding fragment. The ς54 RNA polymerase holoenzyme functions in enhancer-dependent transcription. The structural organization of the ς54 subunit of bacterial RNA polymerase in solution is analyzed by synchrotron x-ray scattering. Scattering patterns are collected from the full-length protein and from a large fragment able to bind the core RNA polymerase, and their low resolution shapes are restored using two ab initio shape determination techniques. The ς54 subunit is a highly elongated particle, and the core binding fragment can be unambiguously positioned inside the full-length protein. The boomerang-like shape of the core binding fragment is similar to that of the atomic model of a fragment of theEscherichia coli ς70 protein, indicating that, although the ς54 and ς70 factors are unrelated by primary sequence, they may share some structural similarity. Potential DNA binding surfaces of ς54 are also predicted by comparison with the ς54 core binding fragment. small angle x-ray scattering dummy atoms model Transcriptional regulation of gene expression is a major area where information flow from DNA is controlled, often by activation of RNA polymerase function, and is central to regulating the initiation rates (1.Helmann J.D. de Haseth P.L. Biochemistry. 1999; 38: 5959-5967Crossref PubMed Scopus (132) Google Scholar, 2.Merrick M.J. Mol. Microbiol. 1993; 10: 903-909Crossref PubMed Scopus (337) Google Scholar). The expression of diverse gene sets in bacteria requires the specialized ς54-containing RNA polymerase (2.Merrick M.J. Mol. Microbiol. 1993; 10: 903-909Crossref PubMed Scopus (337) Google Scholar), likened in its properties to the eukaryotic RNA polymerase II (3.Wang J.T. Syed A. Hsieh M. Gralla J.D. Science. 1995; 270: 992-994Crossref PubMed Scopus (84) Google Scholar). Transcription activation involves a poorly defined interaction of activator proteins, bound at remote sites, with the ς54 holoenzyme bound at a promoter as a transcriptionally inactive closed complex (4.Cannon W. Missailidis S. Smith C. Cottier A. Austin S. Moore M. Buck M. J. Mol. Biol. 1995; 248: 781-803Crossref PubMed Scopus (62) Google Scholar, 5.Wong C. Tintut Y. Gralla J.D. J. Mol. Biol. 1994; 236: 81-90Crossref PubMed Scopus (56) Google Scholar). Our objectives are to determine the contributions of the ς54 protein to RNA polymerase function and activation through structure-function studies. The ς54 protein has a modular domain organization (4.Cannon W. Missailidis S. Smith C. Cottier A. Austin S. Moore M. Buck M. J. Mol. Biol. 1995; 248: 781-803Crossref PubMed Scopus (62) Google Scholar, 5.Wong C. Tintut Y. Gralla J.D. J. Mol. Biol. 1994; 236: 81-90Crossref PubMed Scopus (56) Google Scholar, 6.Cannon W.V. Chaney M.K. Wang X-Y Buck M. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 1997; 94: 5006-5011Crossref PubMed Scopus (34) Google Scholar, 7.Buck M. Cannon W. Nature. 1992; 358: 422-424Crossref PubMed Scopus (112) Google Scholar, 8.Cannon W. Claverie-Martin F. Austin S. Buck M. Mol. Microbiol. 1994; 11: 227-236Crossref PubMed Scopus (40) Google Scholar), and individual domains can be prepared as active partial ς54 sequences, potentially allowing the assignment of structural features seen in the complete ς54 molecule (9.Casaz P. Buck M. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 1997; 94: 12145-12150Crossref PubMed Scopus (38) Google Scholar). ς factors contribute to several functions of the holoenzyme, and although discrete activities are known to reside within individual domains, the domains appear to interact with each other for the full function of the ς54. In the present paper, the structural organization of the 54-kDa monomeric ς54 protein fromKlebsiella pneumoniae bacteria is analyzed using x-ray solution scattering (SAXS),1the method yielding low resolution structural information at nearly physiological conditions. Two methods of ab initio shape restoration (10.Svergun D.I. Volkov V.V. Kozin M.B. Stuhrmann H.B. Acta Crystallogr. Sec. A. 1996; 52: 419-426Crossref PubMed Scopus (123) Google Scholar, 11.Svergun D.I. Volkov V.V. Kozin M.B. Stuhrmann H.B. Barberato C. Koch M.H.J. J. Appl. Crystallogr. 1997; 30: 798-802Crossref Google Scholar, 12.Svergun D.I. Biophys. J. 1999; 76: 2879-2886Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (1692) Google Scholar) are used to establish the shapes of the full-length protein and of its 30-kDa fragment (previously obtained as a stable product of ς54 proteolysis). The latter shape can be unambiguously positioned within the former, providing insight about the structural organization of the ς54 molecule. Further, the shape of the 30-kDa fragment exhibits similarity with that of the crystal structure of a fragment of the Escherichia coli ς70 protein that also binds the core RNA polymerase. A prediction of potential ς54 DNA binding surfaces is also made. K. pneumoniaeς54 protein (amino acids 1–477) and the 30-kDa core binding fragment (amino acids 70–324) with an 11-amino acid amino acid extension (MARIRARGSSR) at its N terminus were overproduced as soluble proteins in E. coli and purified as described previously (13.Missailidis S. Cannon W.V. Drake A. Wang X.Y. Buck M. Mol. Microbiol. 1997; 24: 653-664Crossref PubMed Scopus (17) Google Scholar). They were concentrated to 15–20 mg/ml and buffer-exchanged into 10 mm Tris-HCl, 5% glycerol, pH 8.0, at 4 °C by centrifugal ultrafiltration. Concentrated samples were stored at −70 °C and thawed on ice prior to the scattering experiments. Protein concentrations of ς54 and the 30-kDa fragment were determined side by side using the Bio-Rad dye assay and bovine serum albumin as standard. The synchrotron radiation x-ray scattering data were collected using standard procedures on the X33 camera (14.Koch M.H.J. Bordas J. Nucl. Instrum. Methods. 1983; 208: 461-469Crossref Scopus (287) Google Scholar, 15.Boulin C. Kempf R. Koch M.H.J. McLaughlin S.M. Nucl. Instrum. Methods Sec. A. 1986; 249: 399-407Crossref Scopus (296) Google Scholar, 16.Boulin C.J. Kempf R. Gabriel A. Koch M.H.J. Nucl. Instrum. Methods Sec. A. 1988; 269: 312-320Crossref Scopus (232) Google Scholar) of the EMBL on the storage ring DORIS III of the Deutsches Elektronen Synchrotron (DESY) and multiwire proportional chambers with delay line readout (17.Gabriel A. Dauvergne F. Nucl. Instrum. Methods. 1982; 201: 223-224Crossref Scopus (139) Google Scholar). Samples at concentrations between 2 and 15 mg/ml were measured at a wavelength λ = 0.15 nm for sample-detector distances of 2.9 and 1.4 m covering the momentum transfer ranges 0.20 < s < 2.0 nm−1 and 0.35 < s < 5.0 nm−1, respectively (s = 4π sinθ/λ, where 2θ is the scattering angle). The data were normalized to the intensity of the incident beam, corrected for the detector response; the scattering of the buffer was subtracted; and the difference curves were scaled for concentration using the program SAPOKO. 2D. I. Svergun and M. H. J. Koch, unpublished results. The curves recorded at a sample-detector distance of 2.9 m were extrapolated to zero concentration and merged with the data obtained at 1.4 m. The maximum dimensions D max of the ς54 and the 30-kDa core were estimated from the experimental data using the orthogonal expansion program ORTOGNOM (19.Svergun D.I. J. Appl. Crystallogr. 1993; 26: 258-267Crossref Scopus (106) Google Scholar). The distance distribution functions p(r) and the radii of gyration R g were evaluated by the indirect Fourier transform program GNOM (20.Svergun D.I. Semenyuk A.V. Feigin L.A. Acta Crystallogr. Sec. A. 1988; 44: 244-250Crossref Scopus (271) Google Scholar, 21.Svergun D.I. J. Appl. Crystallogr. 1992; 25: 495-503Crossref Scopus (2874) Google Scholar). The molecular masses of the solutes were estimated by comparison of the extrapolated forward scattering I(0) with that of a reference solution of bovine serum albumin. Prior to the shape analysis, undesirable contributions from the scattering due to the internal particle structure at higher scattering angles that become significant above approximately s = 2.0 nm−1 were removed by subtracting a constant from the experimental data. This procedure ensures that the intensity decays ass −4 following Porod's (22.Porod G. Glatter O. Kratky O. Small-angle X-ray Scattering. Academic Press, Inc., London1982: 17-51Google Scholar) law for homogeneous particles and yields an approximation of the “shape scattering” curve (i.e. scattering due to the excluded volume of the homogeneous particle with a constant density). The shape scattering curves in the ranges up to s max = 2.8 nm−1 (ς54) and 3.3 nm−1 (30-kDa core) were used to compute the excluded volumes V of the hydrated particles (22.Porod G. Glatter O. Kratky O. Small-angle X-ray Scattering. Academic Press, Inc., London1982: 17-51Google Scholar) and for the ab initio shape determination. The outer portions of the curves dominated by the scattering from the internal structure were discarded in the further analysis. The low resolution particle shapes were restored from the experimental data using two ab initioprocedures. In the method of Svergun et al. (10.Svergun D.I. Volkov V.V. Kozin M.B. Stuhrmann H.B. Acta Crystallogr. Sec. A. 1996; 52: 419-426Crossref PubMed Scopus (123) Google Scholar, 11.Svergun D.I. Volkov V.V. Kozin M.B. Stuhrmann H.B. Barberato C. Koch M.H.J. J. Appl. Crystallogr. 1997; 30: 798-802Crossref Google Scholar), the shape is represented by an angular envelope function r= F(ω), where (r,ω) are spherical coordinates. The envelope is parameterized as follows (23.Stuhrmann H.B. Z. Phys. Chem. 1970; 72: 177-198Crossref Scopus (77) Google Scholar), F(ω)=∑l=0L ∑m=−llflmYlm(ω)Equation 1 where Y lm(ω) are spherical harmonics and the multipole coefficients f lm are complex numbers. The maximum order of the spherical harmonicsL is selected to keep the number of free parametersM = (L + 1)2 − 6 close to the number of Shannon channels N s =D max s max/π in the experimental data (10.Svergun D.I. Volkov V.V. Kozin M.B. Stuhrmann H.B. Acta Crystallogr. Sec. A. 1996; 52: 419-426Crossref PubMed Scopus (123) Google Scholar, 24.Shannon C.E. Weaver W. The Mathematical Theory of Communication. University of Illinois Press, Urbana, IL1949Google Scholar, 25.Moore P.B. J. Appl. Crystallogr. 1980; 13: 168-175Crossref Google Scholar). The scattering intensity of the envelope is as follows, I(s)=2π2∑l=0∞ ∑m=−ll‖Alm(s)‖2Equation 2 where the partial amplitudesA lm(s) are calculated from the coefficients f lm using the recurrence relation of Svergun and Stuhrmann (26.Svergun D.I. Stuhrmann H.B. Acta Crystallogr. Sec. A. 1991; 47: 736-744Crossref Scopus (126) Google Scholar). These coefficients are determined by the program SASHA (10.Svergun D.I. Volkov V.V. Kozin M.B. Stuhrmann H.B. Acta Crystallogr. Sec. A. 1996; 52: 419-426Crossref PubMed Scopus (123) Google Scholar, 11.Svergun D.I. Volkov V.V. Kozin M.B. Stuhrmann H.B. Barberato C. Koch M.H.J. J. Appl. Crystallogr. 1997; 30: 798-802Crossref Google Scholar) by minimizing the discrepancy χ between the calculated and the experimental curves as follows, χ=1N−1 ∑j=1NI(sj)−Iexp(sj)ς(sj)2Equation 3 where N is the number of the experimental points andI exp(s k) and ς(s k ) are the experimental intensity and its S.D. in the kth point, respectively. The spatial resolution of the envelope function representation is approximately δr = √5πR g/(√3 (L + 1)). Another ab initio procedure employs a particular implementation of a general method (12.Svergun D.I. Biophys. J. 1999; 76: 2879-2886Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (1692) Google Scholar). A sphere of diameterD max is filled by densely packed small spheres (dummy atoms) of radius r 0 ≪D max. The structure of this dummy atoms model (DAM) is defined by a configuration X, assigning an index to each atom corresponding to solvent (0) or solute particle (1.Helmann J.D. de Haseth P.L. Biochemistry. 1999; 38: 5959-5967Crossref PubMed Scopus (132) Google Scholar). The scattering intensity from the DAM is computed using Equation 2 with the following partial amplitudes, Alm(s)=il2/π∑jjl(srj)Ylm+(ωj)Equation 4 where the sum runs over the dummy atoms withX j = 1 (particle atoms);r j,ω j are their polar coordinates; and j l(x) denotes the spherical Bessel function. The number of dummy atoms in the search model M DAM ≈ (D max/r 0)3≫ 1 significantly exceeds the number of Shannon channels. To reduce the effective number of free parameters in the model, the method searches for a configuration X minimizingf(X) = χ2 + αP(X), where the looseness penaltyP(X) with a positive weight α > 0 ensures that the DAM has low resolution with respect to the packing radiusr 0. The weight of the penalty is selected to have significant penalty contribution at the end of the minimization. The latter is performed starting from a random approximation using the simulated annealing method (27.Kirkpatrick S. Gelatt Jr., C.D. Vecci M.P. Science. 1983; 220: 671-680Crossref PubMed Scopus (30259) Google Scholar); details of the procedure are described elsewhere (12.Svergun D.I. Biophys. J. 1999; 76: 2879-2886Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (1692) Google Scholar). The spatial resolution provided by the DAM is defined by the range of the momentum transfer as δr = 2π/s max. Since the shape determination methods yield models with an arbitrary orientation and handedness, they were appropriately rotated for comparison with each other and also with the atomic model of a ς70 subunit fragment from E. coli RNA. The latter was taken from the Protein Data Bank (28.Bernstein F.C. Koetzle T.F. Williams G.J.B. Meyer Jr., E.F. Brice M.D. Rodgers J.R. Kennard O. Shimanouchi T. Tasumi M. J. Mol. Biol. 1977; 112: 535-542Crossref PubMed Scopus (8135) Google Scholar), entry 1sig (29.Malhotra A. Severinova E. Darst S.A. Cell. 1996; 87: 127-136Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (264) Google Scholar). The model of the fragment of the B-DNA was generated with the program Turbo-FRODO (30.Roussel A. Cambilleau C. Silicon Graphics Geometry Partners Directory. Silicon Graphics, Mountain View, CA1989: 77-79Google Scholar), and the three-dimensional models were displayed using the program ASSA (31.Kozin M.B. Volkov V.V. Svergun D.I. J. Appl. Crystallogr. 1997; 30: 811-815Crossref Google Scholar). The experimental scattering curves from the ς54 and its 30-kDa fragment are presented in Fig. 1, and the structural parameters computed from these curves are listed in TableI. The molecular masses of the solutes indicate that both ς54 and the 30-kDa fragment are monomeric in solution, in agreement with the results of analytical ultracentrifugation. 3D. Scott and J. Hoggett, personal communication. The experimental values of D max andR g suggest that the two macromolecules, and especially ς54, are rather anisometric. The volumes of the hydrated ς54 and the 30-kDa fragment are twice the dry volumes expected from the molecular masses (about 75 and 42 nm3, respectively). This reveals a very high hydration (0.4 g of H2O/g of protein) characteristic for extended macromolecules with high specific surface accessible to the solvent. The profiles of the distance distribution functions p(r) in Fig.2 are typical for elongated particles (32.Feigin L.A. Svergun D.I. Structure Analysis by Small-angle X-ray and Neutron Scattering. Plenum Press, New York1987: 83-87Google Scholar). It follows that ς54 is a very elongated protein and that the 30-kDa fragment, although having a 2-nm smaller maximum diameter, is still rather elongated.Table IExperimental and model parameters of ς54 and of its 30-kDa fragmentParameter/Sampleς5430-kDa fragmentExp.aExp, calculated from the experimental data.Env.bEnv, parameters of the envelope models.DAMcDAM, parameters of the dummy atoms models.Exp.Env.DAMMass (kDa)58 ± 632 ± 4D max (nm)13.0 ± 0.510.412.511.0 ± 0.58.311.0R g (nm)3.43 ± 0.063.043.393.05 ± 0.052.513.08V (nm3)155 ± 1014415285 ± 672.286.7Free parameters11.6dNumber of Shannon channels is given.19224311.6dNumber of Shannon channels is given.19295Discrepancy χ1.791.181.490.88Resolution (nm)2.82.22.41.9a Exp, calculated from the experimental data.b Env, parameters of the envelope models.c DAM, parameters of the dummy atoms models.d Number of Shannon channels is given. Open table in a new tab Figure 2Distance distribution functions of ς54 (1) and the 30-kDa fragment (2).View Large Image Figure ViewerDownload Hi-res image Download (PPT) The portions of the scattering curves used for ab initioshape determination contained N s = 11.6 Shannon channels both for ς54 and for the 30-kDa fragment, allowing the use of harmonics up to L = 4 (19 independent parameters) in the shape determination using the envelope functions (10.Svergun D.I. Volkov V.V. Kozin M.B. Stuhrmann H.B. Acta Crystallogr. Sec. A. 1996; 52: 419-426Crossref PubMed Scopus (123) Google Scholar). The restored envelopes are presented in Fig. 3(left column), and the fits to the experimental data are displayed in Fig. 1, a and b. The envelope of the 30-kDa fragment can be unambiguously positioned inside that of ς54. Moreover, a boomerang-like shape of the core correlates well with the gross structure of the core RNA polymerase-binding fragment of the E. coli ς70 protein (the atomic model of the latter is superimposed with the low resolution models in Fig. 3). Nevertheless, the shape reconstruction using envelope functions has its limitations for elongated particles like ς54. To keep the model at low resolution and the number of model parameters reasonably small, higher spherical harmonics are omitted in the description of the envelope (Equation 1). This ensures uniqueness of the model restoration (10.Svergun D.I. Volkov V.V. Kozin M.B. Stuhrmann H.B. Acta Crystallogr. Sec. A. 1996; 52: 419-426Crossref PubMed Scopus (123) Google Scholar) but leads to a termination effect especially noticeable for anisometric particles for which the higher harmonics play a significant role. As a result, the radius of gyration and the maximum size of the restored envelopes are lower than those determined experimentally (Table I), and the calculated curves display systematic deviations from the experimental data (Fig. 1). A much less restricted description of the particle shape is provided by the alternative DAM technique. The search volume for the ς54 contained M DAM = 2243 dummy atoms with a packing radius r a = 0.45 nm within a sphere with the diameter D max = 13 nm. Of those, 295 dummy atoms were attributed to the particle in the final model of ς54, and they further defined the search volume for the 30-kDa fragment. The obtained DAMs presented in Fig. 3 (right column), yield better fits to the experimental data in Fig. 1 than those provided by the envelope models and also the structural parameters that neatly agree with the experimental values (Table I). To verify the uniqueness of the shape restoration using DAM, several independent restorations were performed using different conditions (by varying the packing radius r a and by starting from random initial configurations). These restorations yielded reproducible results similar to that in Fig. 3 (right column). In particular, the shape of the 30-kDa fragment restored ab initio within the spherical search volume withD max = 11 nm was very similar to that presented in Fig. 3. An ab initio shape restoration from solution scattering data is not unique unless the search model is kept at low resolution (10.Svergun D.I. Volkov V.V. Kozin M.B. Stuhrmann H.B. Acta Crystallogr. Sec. A. 1996; 52: 419-426Crossref PubMed Scopus (123) Google Scholar). The two ab initio procedures employed here use different restrictions. In the envelope restoration, higher spherical harmonics are omitted in the description of the envelope function so that the number of the adjustable parameters is comparable with that of the Shannon channels in the scattering data. In the DAM retrieval, the number of parameters is much larger (M DAM ≈ 103), and the looseness penalty ensures that the final model is compact and interconnected. Given the differences in parameterization and in the numbers of model parameters, similarities in the low resolution models independently restored by the two methods are remarkable. The differences between the two restorations in Fig. 3are largely attributed to the termination effects in the envelope method, which are significant for elongated particles like ς54. It should be stressed that although the shapes obtained with the DAM technique are still low resolution models, their better nominal resolution (Table I) and more detailed appearance compared with the envelope models are fully justified by better fits to the experimental data. DNA footprinting experiments have shown that ς54 interacts with promoter DNA from −33 to −5. Major points of contact are within four base pairs (TGCA) centered at −12.5 and seven (CTGGCAC) centered at −24, within the consensus sequence of ς54 DNA-binding sites. The distance between these contact centers suggests that unless ς binds to a non-B-DNA conformation, interactions between ς and DNA will involve contacts made by structures within more than one of the well developed lobes revealed by the SAXS analysis. Superposition of the low resolution dummy atoms models with a 28-base pair B-DNA fragment in Fig. 3 (top right orientation) summarizes a relationship between ς54, the 30-kDa fragment, and promoter DNA that can account for the known extent of ς-promoter DNA interactions. The 30-kDa fragment analyzed by SAXS lacks the ς DNA-binding domain and region I sequences that also contribute to DNA recognition. It therefore seems probable that the lobe missing from the 30-kDa fragment (Fig. 3) but present in ς54 includes some of the structures that direct promoter binding. The upper surface of ς54 depicted in Fig. 3 (top right orientation) further distinguishes the full-length protein from the 30-kDa fragment and may contribute additional DNA contacting structures. Together, the lobe and the upper surface can provide DNA-contacting surfaces of approximately the necessary extent to fully interact with promoter DNA. The direction of the DNA sequence displayed in Fig. 3 is arbitrary, since no experimental data correlating which structure recognizes the −12 or −24 sequences are available. The low resolution solution structure for ς54 determined in this work provides the first initial model for a protein that functions to convert E. coli RNA polymerase into an enhancer-dependent enzyme (3.Wang J.T. Syed A. Hsieh M. Gralla J.D. Science. 1995; 270: 992-994Crossref PubMed Scopus (84) Google Scholar). Clearly developed structures are present that probably represent either a discrete individual domain or alternately domains that are directly interacting within the tertiary structure. The amino-terminal domain required for transcription silencing and activator responsiveness and the C-terminal DNA binding domain are thought to interact (9.Casaz P. Buck M. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 1997; 94: 12145-12150Crossref PubMed Scopus (38) Google Scholar). Comparison of the structure of the 30-kDa fragment that lacks both of these domains with the full-length protein structure is consistent with such an interaction, since one lobe is clearly absent (Fig. 3). Possibly, both the amino-terminal domain and C-terminal domain contribute to this lobe and do directly interact with each other. Another striking observation is that the fragment of ς70 for which the atomic structure has been determined has a similar shape and size compared with the 30-kDa fragment of ς54 (Fig. 3). Both fragments bind to the same core RNA polymerase. Assuming the shape of the fragments is related to core binding, it seems that ς70 and ς54 are probably located in similar places on the core. The sequence differences that exist between ς54 and ς70 are, however, sufficient to account, at least in part, for the different properties of the two holoenzymes. Some interactions with core may nevertheless be conserved between the two ς types. The low resolution solution structure of ς54 shows a well developed anisometric shape. Similarity to a part of ς70 that binds to the core RNA polymerase and interacts with the −10 promoter DNA is evident. Now that crystallography and cryoelectron microscopy are beginning to reveal the structures of multisubuit RNA polymerases (18.Mooney, R. A., and Landick, R. (1999) Cell 687–690Google Scholar), one can also begin to evaluate the functional significance of this similarity. These structural approaches together with the use of tethered iron chelate methods for examining proximity relationships within transcription complexes should help determine the organization of RNA polymerase holoenzymes.