Sa. Qureshi et al., CLONING AND FUNCTIONAL-ANALYSIS OF THE TATA-BINDING PROTEIN FROM SULFOLOBUS-SHIBATAE, Nucleic acids research, 23(10), 1995, pp. 1775-1781
Archaea (formerly archaebacteria) comprise a domain of life that is ph
ylogenetically distinct from both Eucarya and Bacteria. Here we report
the cloning of a gene from the Archaeon Sulfolobus shibatae that enco
des a protein with strong homology to the TATA binding protein (TBP) o
f eukaryotes. Sulfolobus shibatae TBP is, however, almost as diverged
from other archaeal TBPs that have been cloned as it is from eukaryoti
c TBPs. DNA binding studies indicate that S.shibatae TBP recognizes TA
TA-like A-box sequences that are present upstream of most archaeal gen
es. By quantitatively immunodepleting S.shibatae TBP from an in vitro
transcription system, we demonstrate that Sulfolobus RNA polymerase is
capable of transcribing the 16S/23S rRNA promoter weakly in the absen
ce of TBP. Most significantly, we show that addition of recombinant S.
shibatae TBP to this immunodepleted system leads to transcriptional st
imulation and that this stimulation is dependent on the A-box sequence
of the promoter. Taken together, these findings reveal fundamental si
milarities between the transcription machineries of Archaea and eukary
otes.