RNAP-II Molecules Participate in the Anchoring of the ORC to rDNA Replication Origins

The replication of genomic DNA is limited to a single round per cell cycle. The first component, which recognises and remains bound to origins from recognition until activation and replication elongation, is the origin recognition complex. How origin recognition complex (ORC) proteins remain associated with chromatin throughout the cell cycle is not yet completely understood. Several genome-wide studies have undoubtedly demonstrated that RNA polymerase II (RNAP-II) binding sites overlap with replication origins and with the binding sites of the replication components. RNAP-II is no longer merely associated with transcription elongation. Several reports have demonstrated that RNAP-II molecules affect chromatin structure, transcription, mRNA processing, recombination and DNA repair, among others. Most of these activities have been reported to directly depend on the interaction of proteins with the C-terminal domain (CTD) of RNAP-II. Two-dimensional gels results and ChIP analysis presented herein suggest that stalled RNAP-II molecules bound to the rDNA chromatin participate in the anchoring of ORC proteins to origins during the G1 and S-phases. The results show that in the absence of RNAP-II, Orc1p, Orc2p and Cdc6p do not bind to origins. Moreover, co-immunoprecipitation experiments suggest that Ser2P-CTD and hypophosphorylated RNAP-II interact with Orc1p. In the context of rDNA, cryptic transcription by RNAP-II did not negatively interfere with DNA replication. However, the results indicate that RNAP-II is not necessary to maintain the binding of ORCs to the origins during metaphase. These findings highlight for the first time the potential importance of stalled RNAP-II in the regulation of DNA replication.