A polymerase switch in the synthesis of rRNA in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Transcription of ribosomal DNA by RNA polymerase I is believed to be the sole source of the 25S, 18S, and 5.8S rRNAs in wild-type cells of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Here we present evidence for a switch from RNA polymerase I to RNA polymerase II in the synthesis of a substantial fraction of those rRNAs in respiratory-deficient (petite) cells. The templates for the RNA polymerase II transcripts are largely, if not exclusively, episomal copies of ribosomal DNA arising from homologous recombination events within the ribosomal DNA repeat on chromosome XII. Ribosomal DNA contains a cryptic RNA polymerase II promoter that is activated in petites; it overlaps the RNA polymerase I promoter and produces a transcript equivalent to the 35S precursor rRNA made by RNA polymerase I. Yeast cells that lack RNA polymerase I activity, because of a disruption of the RPA135 gene that encodes subunit II of the enzyme, can survive by using the RNA polymerase II promoter in ribosomal DNA to direct the synthesis of the 35S rRNA precursor. This polymerase switch could provide cells with a mechanism to synthesize rRNA independent of the controls of RNA polymerase I transcription.