Activation of chromatin-bound DNA-dependent RNA polymerase (E.C. 2.7.7.6.) in plant storage tissue slices

The synthesis of RNA by chromatin-bound RNA polymerase (E.C. 2.7.7.6.) from white potato tubers proceeds at a low rate, which is enhanced after slicing the tissue, however. Concomitantly DNA template availability as measured with saturating amounts of Escherichia coli polymerase is diminished drastically. Nearest neighbor frequency analysis proved that the RNA synthesized on chromatin of intact tubers is different from that synthesized on chromatin of sliced tissue. The RNA polymerase of white potato tubers is dependent on all four ribonucleoside triphosphates and a divalent metal ion such as Mg2+ or Mn2+ and totally inhibited by the presence of pyrophosphate. Actinomycin D blocks the formation of the RNA product, which could be shown to be a heteropolymer by nearest neighbour frequency technique. The Km of the chromatin-bound enzyme with regard to ATP, GTP, CTP and UTP was 5.1 X 10(-5) M, 1.6X10(-5) M, 0.9X10(-5) M and 0.45X10(-5) M/l respectively. alpha-amanitin inhibits the overall activity to about 50%, which indicates the presence of equal amounts of polymerase I and polymerase II.