Gene expression in Escherichia coli B/r during partial rifampicin-mediated restrictions of transcription initiation.

The antibiotic rifampicin inhibits transcription initiation, but not the elongation and completion of nascent RNA transcripts. Addition of low concentrations of rifampicin only partially blocks initiation but at the same time specifically alters the general pattern of transcription in the culture. The transcription of genes specifying the beta and beta' subunits of RNA polymerase, and to a lesser extent of the genes specifying the RNA and protein components of the ribosome, was specifically stimulated relative to total transcription. In contrast, the transcription of the lactose operon was selectively reduced. These results are consistent with the ideas that the level of expression of the genes specifying the beta and beta' subunits is sensitive to the general rate of RNA synthesis in the culture, and that the expression of the beta and beta' RNA polymerase genes is related to the expression of ribosome component genes.