Help:Promoters/Bacteriophage RNAP

This page provides information about bacteriophage RNA polymerases (RNAP). For example, how many subunits are in a particular RNAP, how does the RNAP recognize promoters or what is the consensus promoter sequences for a particular promoter.

T7 RNAP

A 3d structure for T7 RNAP (blue) transcribing DNA (orange) to produce mRNA (green). Image obtained from http://www.molecularstation.com/molecular-biology-images/502-dna-pictures/42-t7-rna-polymerase.html?size=big.

T7 RNAP is a single-subunit RNA polymerase from bacteriophage T7. The nucleotide sequence for T7 RNAP is known and available from the registry (see BBa_I2032). T7 RNAP is known to be highly active and is also a highly selective RNAP. The consensus promoter sequence for T7 RNAP is represented by the sequence logos shown below.

The sequence logo for the strong promoters from the bacteriophage T7 genome.

The sequence logo for the minimum sequence necessary for T7 RNAP to recognize a promoter.