The Lesser Known World of RNA Polymerases
According to the central dogma of molecular biology, genetic information is passed from DNA to RNA to protein. The transmission of information from DNA to RNA is called transcription and is carried out by the RNA polymerases (RNA pols). The RNA pols from bacteria to eukaryotes are multimeric enzymes...
| Autores: | , , |
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Estado: | Versión publicada |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2021 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) |
| Repositorio: | DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:digital.csic.es:10261/263205 |
| Acceso en línea: | http://hdl.handle.net/10261/263205 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | RNA polymerase Transcription Evolution Biogenesis Posttranslational modifications Diseases Splicing Transcription factors |
| Sumario: | According to the central dogma of molecular biology, genetic information is passed from DNA to RNA to protein. The transmission of information from DNA to RNA is called transcription and is carried out by the RNA polymerases (RNA pols). The RNA pols from bacteria to eukaryotes are multimeric enzymes which show a high degree of conservation in terms of their structure and functionality (Cramer, 2019; Werner and Grohmann 2011) (Figure 1). Notably, while bacteria and archaea contain only one RNA pol, most eukaryotes contain three different enzymes, RNA pol I, II and III, with the exception of plants that also have two additional RNA pols, IV and V, which evolved from RNA pol II (Ream et al., 2014). RNA pol I synthesizes the precursor of the three largest rRNAs, RNA pol III produces mostly tRNAs, the 5S rRNA and several short non-translated RNAs and RNA pol II give rise to all mRNAs and many non-coding RNAs, including miRNA. Finally, RNA pol IV and V participate in transcriptional silencing and also in production of non-coding RNAs involved in the development and response to environmental changes (Werner and Grohmann 2011; Ream et al., 2014; Cramer, 2019). The enzyme exhibits a broad evolutionary diversity, functional dynamism and pleiotropic role in biological systems. However, many aspects of RNA pols, including their biogenesis, function, and even their impact in different cellular processes or health, have not been deeply investigated. This special issue is an attempt to cover some of the lesser-known aspects of RNA pol diversity, dynamism, function and evolutionary conservation. In addition, this issue also considers transcription factors as part of the transcriptional machinery. |
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