Objective In E. coli, most transcription activators work by making contacts with either the a subunit of RNA polymerase (Class-l transcription activators) or with the cs factor (Class-IU). The Ada protein, a transcriptional activator for a set of genes involved in repair of DNA alkylation damage, has been identified as a Class-l activator, since deletions in the C-terminal domain of the a subunit severely impair Ada activation at the ada promoter. We have shown that the C-terminal domain of a is in fact responsible for binding of RNA polymerase to the promoter region of the ada and the aidB genes. This observation suggests that the role played by the a subunit of RNA polymerase at these promoters is to interact with the promoter DNA rather than with the transcriptional activator Ada. This possibility would suggest a novel mechanism for RNA polymerase interaction with positively controlled promoters. In this proposal, we outline a series of experiments to determine if a-mediated binding of RNA polymerase to the ada and aidB promoters is necessary for Ada-activated transcription. Fields of science natural sciencesbiological sciencesgeneticsDNAnatural sciencesbiological sciencesbiochemistrybiomoleculesproteinsnatural sciencesbiological sciencesgeneticsRNA Programme(s) FP4-TMR - Specific research and technological development programme in the field of the training and mobility of researchers, 1994-1998 Topic(s) 0302 - Post-doctoral research training grants TL02 - Molecular Biology and Biochemistry Call for proposal Data not available Funding Scheme RGI - Research grants (individual fellowships) Coordinator University of Birmingham EU contribution No data Address Edgbaston B15 2TT Birmingham United Kingdom See on map Total cost No data Participants (1) Sort alphabetically Sort by EU Contribution Expand all Collapse all Not available Italy EU contribution No data Address See on map Total cost No data