Purification and subunit structure of RNA polymerases I and II from Dictyostelium discoideum vegetative cells

A purification procedure to obtain RNA polymerases I (or A) and II (or B) from Dictyostelium discoideum amoeba has been developed. The enzymes were solubilized from purified nuclei and separated by DEAE-Sephadex chromatography. RNA polymerases I and II were further purified by a second chromatography on DEAE-Sephadex followed by chromatographies on phosphocellulose and heparin-sepharose. The specific activities of purified RNA polymerases I and II are 92 units/mg protein and 70 units/mg protein, respectively. The subunit structure of both RNA polymerases were analyzed by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis under denaturing conditions after glycerol gradient centrifugation of the enzymes. The putative subunits of RNA polymerase I have molecular weights of 180 000, 125 000, 43 000, 40,000, 34 000, 31 000, 25 000, 19 000, 17 000 and 14 000. The putative subunits of RNA polymerase II have molecular weights of 200 000 (170 000), 130 000, 33 000, 25 000, 19 000, 17 000, 15 000, 13 000. There are three polypeptides with common molecular weight in Dictyostelium RNA polymerases I and II. The subunit of 25 000 daltons of both enzymes has common immunological determinants with RNA polymerase II from crustacean Artemia.