Mutational analysis of the transcription start site of the yeast tRNA(Leu3) gene.

In addition to the well-known internal promoter elements of tRNA genes, 5' flanking sequences can also influence the efficiency of transcription by Saccharomyces cerevisiae extracts in vitro. A consensus sequence of yeast tRNA genes in the vicinity of the transcriptional start site can be derived. To determine whether the activity of this region can be attributed to particular sequence features we studied in vitro mutants of the start site region. We found that the start site can be shifted, but only to a limited extent, by moving the conserved sequence element. We found that both a pyrimidine-purine motif (with transcription initiating at the purine) and a small T:A base pair block upstream are important for efficient transcription in vitro. Thus the sequence surrounding the start site of transcription of the yeast tRNA(Leu3) gene does play a role in determining transcription efficiency and fixing the precise site of initiation by RNA polymerase III.