The RNA polymerase II of an alpha-amanitin-resistant Chinese hamster ovary cell line.

Amal, an alpha-amanitin-resistant mutant of the Chinese hamster ovary cell line, contains an RNA polymerase activity which elutes from DEAE-Sephadex at a salt concentration characteristic of an RNA polymerase II, but which is not sensitive to alpha-amanitin at levels where the polymerase II of wild-type cells is strongly inhibited. This result suggests that Amal owes its amanitin-resistant phenotype to a mutation affecting one of its genes for RNA polymerase II. To test this hypothesis, we purified the enzyme from Amal and then compared its properties with those of the wild-type enzyme. The mutant enzyme is indeed a polymerase II, and is over 600 times less sensitive to alpha-amanitin and more thermolabile than the wild-type enzyme.