Prof. Winfried Hausner

Transcriptional regulation in Archaea

Winfried Hausner

Institute of Microbiology and Archaea Centre, University of Regensburg, 93053 Regensburg, Germany

Archaeal transcription relies on a single RNA polymerase that is highly homologous to eukaryotic RNA polymerase II. Furthermore, the need for a TATA box binding protein, transcription factor B and transcription factor E in combination with a promoter consisting of a TATA box and a TFB recognition element for initiation maintain the close relationship to eukaryotic transcription. In contrast, the regulation of this process is mainly achieved by bacterial-like transcriptional regulators. Positive or negative regulation is mediated by binding of these transcription factors to promoter regions to allow transcriptional regulation of specific genes. We are interested in mechanistic details of such regulons using the hyperthermophilic euryarchaeon Pyrococcus furiosus as a model organism.