Archaeal TFEα/β is a hybrid of TFIIE and the RNA polymerase III subcomplex hRPC62/39

• Published in: eLife Vol. 4; p. e08378
• Main Authors: Blombach, Fabian, Salvadori, Enrico, Fouqueau, Thomas, Yan, Jun, Reimann, Julia, Sheppard, Carol, Smollett, Katherine L, Albers, Sonja V, Kay, Christopher W M, Thalassinos, Konstantinos, Werner, Finn
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England eLife Sciences Publications Ltd 12.06.2015; eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd
• Subjects: Archaea; Biochemistry; Deoxyribonucleic acid; DNA; DNA-directed RNA polymerase; Ethanol; evolution; Genes and Chromosomes; Life sciences; Molecular biology; Protein Multimerization; Proteins; Recombinant Proteins - genetics; Recombinant Proteins - metabolism; RNA polymerase; RNA Polymerase III - genetics; RNA Polymerase III - metabolism; Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; Sulfolobus solfataricus - enzymology; Sulfolobus solfataricus - genetics; TFE; TFIIE; transcription; Transcription factors; Transcription Factors, TFII - genetics; Transcription Factors, TFII - metabolism; University colleges; TFE; TFIIE; transcription; genes; biochemistry; chromosomes; RNA polymerase; evolution; archaea
• ISSN: 2050-084X; 2050-084X
• DOI: 10.7554/eLife.08378

Transcription initiation of archaeal RNA polymerase (RNAP) and eukaryotic RNAPII is assisted by conserved basal transcription factors. The eukaryotic transcription factor TFIIE consists of α and β subunits. Here we have identified and characterised the function of the TFIIEβ homologue in archaea that on the primary sequence level is related to the RNAPIII subunit hRPC39. Both archaeal TFEβ and hRPC39 harbour a cubane 4Fe-4S cluster, which is crucial for heterodimerization of TFEα/β and its engagement with the RNAP clamp. TFEα/β stabilises the preinitiation complex, enhances DNA melting, and stimulates abortive and productive transcription. These activities are strictly dependent on the β subunit and the promoter sequence. Our results suggest that archaeal TFEα/β is likely to represent the evolutionary ancestor of TFIIE-like factors in extant eukaryotes.