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Transcriptional antitermination

Nature volume 364, pages 401–406 (1993)Cite this article

Abstract

Antiterminator proteins control gene expression by recognizing control signals near the promoter and preventing transcriptional termination which would otherwise occur at sites that may be a long way downstream. The N protein of bacteriophage λ recognizes a sequence in the nascent RNA, and modifies RNA polymerase by catalysing the formation of a stable ribonucleo-protein complex on its surface, whereas the λ Q protein recognizes a sequence in the DNA. These mechanisms of antitermination in λ provide models for analysing antitermination in viruses such as HIV-1 and in eukaryotic genes.

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Author notes

  1. Justin R. Nodwell

    Present address: Biological Laboratories, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02138, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Banting and Best Department of Medical Research and Department of Molecular and Medical Genetics, University of Toronto, 112 College Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5G 1L6

    Jack Greenblatt, Justin R. Nodwell & Stephen W. Mason

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  2. Justin R. Nodwell
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  3. Stephen W. Mason
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Greenblatt, J., Nodwell, J. & Mason, S. Transcriptional antitermination. Nature 364, 401–406 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1038/364401a0

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