Genome-wide location of yeast RNA polymerase III transcription machinery

RNA polymerase III (Pol III) transcribes a large set of genes encoding small untranslated RNAs like tRNAs, 5S rRNA, U6 snRNA or RPR1 RNA. To get a global view of class III (Pol III-transcribed) genes, the distribution of essential components of Pol III, TFIIIC and TFIIIB was mapped across the yeast genome. During active growth, most class III genes and few additional loci were targeted by TFIIIC, TFIIIB and Pol III, indicating that they were transcriptionally active. SNR52, which encodes a snoRNA, was identified as a new class III gene. During the late growth phase, TFIIIC remained bound to most class III genes while the recruitment of Pol III and, to a lesser extent, of TFIIIB was down regulated. This study fixes a reasonable upper bound to the number of class III genes in yeast and points to a global regulation at the level of Pol III and TFIIIB recruitment.