ABSTRACT
The bacterial cells contain at least 1,000 copies of ribonucleic acid (RNA) polymerase. This single multiprotein complex is responsible for most of the transcription in Escherichia coli. The complexity of the bacterial polymerase shown by its response to a wide variety of situations stretches the imagination to the very limits of biochemical reality. The genes for the subunits of the holoenzyme are located in three widely dispersed locations on the E. coli chromosome; the genes for ß and ß' are located adjacent to one another on the same operon. The clustering of genes for RNA polymerase and ribosomal proteins within the same operon provides a means for simultaneously regulating the synthesis of proteins required for transcription and translation. The two explanations for this in vitro stimulation are most likely: relief of attenuation leading to more ßß' mRNA synthesis; or relief of the inhibition by RNA polymerase of ßß' mRNA translation.
