Site specific deletions of regulatory sequences in a ribosomal protein-RNA polymerase operon in Escherichia coli. Effects on beta and beta' gene expression.

The 319 nucleotide long intergenic region between the rplL (L12) and the rpoB (beta) genes of the L10 operon contains a transcription attenuation sequence and a RNase III mRNA processing sequence. Four site specific deletions located within this intergenic space which remove either the transcription attenuation sequence or the RNase III mRNA processing sequence or both sequences have been isolated on recombinant DNA plasmids carrying this operon. Deletions of sequences surrounding the RNase III processing site result in a uniform 80-90% reduction in the translational efficiency of beta subunit mRNA. This reduction in translation efficiency appears not to be related to processing per se; transcription of the rpoB and rpoC genes and the translation efficiency of the respective mRNA sequences were indistinguishable in an RNase III processing defective mutant (rnc) and its isogenic parent (rnc+). Deletions of the attenuator sequence result in a substantial increase in the downstream transcription of the beta subunit gene. The translational efficiency of RNase III processed beta subunit mRNA was found to be related in an inverse manner to the level of beta subunit synthesis. These result suggest that sequences on the mRNA in the vicinity of the RNase III processing site (i) are essential for efficient translation of beta subunit mRNA and (ii) are utilized for reducing the translational efficiency of the beta subunit mRNA when the beta subunit protein is produced in excess of that required for RNA polymerase assembly.