Rat1 promotes premature transcription termination at R-loops

Certain DNA sequences can adopt a non-B form in the genome that interfere with DNA-templated processes, including transcription. Among the sequences that are intrinsically difficult to transcribe are those that tend to form R-loops, three-stranded nucleic acid structures formed by a DNA-RNA hybrid and the displaced ssDNA. Here we compared the transcription of an endogenous gene with and without an R-loop-forming sequence inserted. We show that, in agreement with previous in vivo and in vitro analyses, transcription elongation is delayed by R-loops in yeast. Importantly, we demonstrate that the Rat1 transcription terminator factor facilitates transcription throughout such structures by inducing premature termination of arrested RNAPIIs. We propose that RNase H degrades the RNA moiety of the hybrid, providing an entry site for Rat1. Thus, we have uncovered an unanticipated function of Rat1 as a transcription restoring factor opening up the possibility that it may also promote transcription through other genomic DNA structures intrinsically difficult to transcribe. If R-loop-mediated transcriptional stress is not relieved by Rat1, it will cause genomic instability, probably through the increase of transcription-replication conflicts, a deleterious situation that could lead to cancer.