Primer-independent abortive initiation by wheat-germ RNA polymerase B (II).

Highly purified RNA polymerase B (II) from wheat germ catalyses the formation of dinucleoside tetraphosphates from ribonucleoside triphosphates in the absence of an oligonucleotide primer or additional protein factors. The reaction requires bivalent cations such as Mn2+ or Mg2+ and proceeds linearly for several hours. It is strongly inhibited by 1 microgram/ml alpha-amanitin or 2 micrograms/ml heparin. The reaction strictly depends on the addition of a specific linear or circular DNA template, such as the plasmid pSmaF or a DNA fragment containing the gene for nopaline dehydrogenase. Bacteriophage T7 D111 DNA has almost no template activity. The start sites for dinucleotide synthesis on the template are limited. With the DNA fragment containing the gene for nopaline dehydrogenase only pppApA and pppApU are synthesised substantially whereas pppUpU is formed only in trace amounts. No significant dinucleotide synthesis is observed with other ribonucleoside triphosphates either singly or in a combination of two. The various regions of the DNA fragment differ distinctly in template activity.