Bacteriophage SP82 induced modifications of Bacillus subtilis RNA polymerase result in the recognition of additional RNA synthesis initiation sites on phage DNA

Abstract

The modification of the subunit structure of Bacillus subtilis RNA polymerase which occurs after infection with bacteriophage SP82 alters the transcriptional specificity of the enzyme. The data presented here determine which restriction endonuclease fragments of SP82 are used as initiation sites for RNA synthesis by the modified and unmodified enzymes. The analysis shows that the change in transcriptional specificity is due to the ability of the modified polymerase to initiate RNA synthesis at new sites on SP82 DNA. Reconstitution experiments using subunits isolated from the modified RNA polymerase indicate that the 28,000 molecular weight polypeptide coded by the phage is responsible for the change in initiation specificity.