The structure of Escherichia coli core RNA polymerase (RNAP) was determined by cryo-electron microscopy and image processing of helical crystals to a nominal resolution of 15 A. Because of the high sequence conservation between the core RNAP subunits, we were able to interpret the E. coli structure in relation to the high-resolution x-ray structure of Thermus aquaticus core RNAP. A very large c...

The 5'----3' exonuclease activity of the thermostable enzyme Thermus aquaticus DNA polymerase may be employed in a polymerase chain reaction product detection system to generate a specific detectable signal concomitantly with amplification. An oligonucleotide probe, nonextendable at the 3' end, labeled at the 5' end, and designed to hybridize within the target sequence, is introduced into the p...

Thermus aquaticus (Taq) DNA polymerase was used to measure the extension efficiency for all configurations of matched and mismatched base pairs at template-primer 3'-termini. The transition mispairs, A(primer).C, C.A, G.T, and T.G were extended 10(-3) to 10(-4)-fold less efficiently than their correctly paired counterparts. Relative efficiencies for extending transversion mispairs were 10(-4) t...

Initiation of transcription is a primary means for controlling gene expression. In bacteria, the RNA polymerase (RNAP) holoenzyme binds and unwinds promoter DNA, forming the transcription bubble of the open promoter complex (RPo). We have determined crystal structures, refined to 4.14 Å-resolution, of RPo containing Thermus aquaticus RNAP holoenzyme and promoter DNA that includes the full trans...

In PCR, DNA polymerases from thermophilic bacteria catalyze the extension of primers annealed to templates as well as the structure-specific cleavage of the products of primer extension. Here we show that cleavage by Thermus aquaticus and Thermus thermophilus DNA polymerases can be precise and substantial: it occurs at the base of the stem-loop structure assumed by the single strand products of...