In vitro recombination of bacteriophage T7 DNA: Further characterization of the reaction using plasmid DNA

1985 ◽  
Vol 63 (4) ◽  
pp. 243-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald Lee ◽  
Dan Vetter ◽  
Linda Beatty ◽  
Paul Sadowski

We have used a plasmid which contains a cloned fragment of T7 DNA to study the properties of general recombination of phage T7 in vitro. It was shown that T7-infected cell extracts promote recombination by the exchange of double strands of DNA. While both products of these double-strand exchanges were detected, we were unable to show that they were formed during a single recombination event.

1985 ◽  
Vol 63 (4) ◽  
pp. 237-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald D. Lee ◽  
Paul D. Sadowski

The replication of bacteriophage T7 DNA in vivo proceeds via the synthesis of complex concatemeric intermediates which are joined via the 160 base pair terminal redundancies at either end of the phage chromosome. To gain some insight into the mode of generation of these structures, we have examined the role of DNA synthesis in the formation of concatemeric bacteriophage T7 DNA in vitro. Incubation of mature T7 DNA with T7-infected cell extracts and a deoxynucleoside [32P]triphosphate resulted in the incorporation of significant radioactivity into the DNA. Highest levels of incorporation were at the termini of the DNA and decreased toward the middle of the molecule. Incorporation was dependent upon the presence of the activity of the gene 6 exonuclease and correlated with the generation of concatemeric DNA. A model explaining the role of exonucleolytic degradation and DNA synthesis in the generation of concatemeric DNA is presented.


1980 ◽  
Vol 189 (2) ◽  
pp. 305-312 ◽  
Author(s):  
A Roobol ◽  
C I Pogson ◽  
K Gull

Cell extracts of myxamoebae of Physarum polycephalum have been prepared in such a way that they do not inhibit assembly of brain microtubule protein in vitro even at high extract-protein concentration. Co-polymers of these extracts and brain tubulin have been purified to constant stoichiometry and amoebal components identified by radiolabelling. Amoebal tubulin has been identified as having an alpha-subunit, mol.wt. 54 000, which co-migrates with brain alpha-tubulin and a beta-subunit, mol.wt. 50 000, which co-migrates with Tetrahymena ciliary beta-tubulin. Non-tubulin amoebal proteins that co-purify with tubulin during co-polymer formation have been shown to be essential for microtubule formation in the absence of glycerol and appear to be rather more effective than brain microtubule-associated proteins in stimulating assembly. The mitotic inhibitor griseofulvin (7-chloro-2′,4,6-trimethoxy-6′-methylspiro[benzofuran-2(3H),1′-cyclohex-2′-ene] −3,4′-dione), which binds to brain microtubule-associated proteins and inhibits brain microtubule assembly in vitro, affected co-polymer microtubule protein in a similar way, but to a slightly greater extent.


1987 ◽  
Vol 7 (9) ◽  
pp. 3124-3130 ◽  
Author(s):  
D Ganea ◽  
P Moore ◽  
L Chekuri ◽  
R Kucherlapati

We have characterized an enzymatic activity from human cell nuclei which is capable of catalyzing strand exchange between homologous DNA sequences. The strand exchange activity was Mg2+ dependent and required ATP hydrolysis. In addition, it was capable of promoting reannealing of homologous DNA sequences and could form nucleoprotein networks in a fashion reminiscent of purified bacterial RecA protein. Using an in vitro recombination assay, we also showed that the strand exchange activity was biologically important. The factor(s) responsible for the activity has been partially purified.


2000 ◽  
Vol 182 (10) ◽  
pp. 2787-2792 ◽  
Author(s):  
Atsuko Gyohda ◽  
Teruya Komano

ABSTRACT The shufflon, a multiple DNA inversion system in plasmid R64, consists of four invertible DNA segments which are separated and flanked by seven 19-bp repeat sequences. The product of a site-specific recombinase gene, rci, promotes site-specific recombination between any two of the inverted 19-bp repeat sequences of the shufflon. To analyze the molecular mechanism of this recombination reaction, Rci protein was overproduced and purified. The purified Rci protein promoted the in vitro recombination reaction between the inverted 19-bp repeats of supercoiled DNA of a plasmid carrying segment A of the R64 shufflon. The recombination reaction was enhanced by the bacterial host factor HU. Gel electrophoretic analysis indicated that the Rci protein specifically binds to the DNA segments carrying the 19-bp sequences. The binding affinity of the Rci protein to the four shufflon segments as well as four synthetic 19-bp sequences differed greatly: among the four 19-bp repeat sequences, the repeat-a and -d sequences displayed higher affinity to Rci protein. These results suggest that the differences in the affinity of Rci protein for the 19-bp repeat sequences determine the inversion frequencies of the four segments.


1992 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 3216-3223
Author(s):  
S Kornbluth ◽  
C Smythe ◽  
J W Newport

In cell extracts of Xenopus eggs which oscillate between S and M phases of the cell cycle, the onset of mitosis is blocked by the presence of incompletely replicated DNA. In this report, we show that several artificial DNA templates (M13 single-stranded DNA and double-stranded plasmid DNA) can trigger this feedback pathway, which inhibits mitosis. Single-stranded M13 DNA is much more effective than double-stranded plasmid DNA at inhibiting the onset of mitosis. Furthermore, we have shown that low levels of M13 single-stranded DNA and high levels of double-stranded plasmid DNA can elevate the tyrosine kinase activity responsible for phosphorylating p34cdc2, thereby inactivating maturation-promoting factor and inhibiting entry into mitosis. This constitutes a simplified system with which to study the signal transduction pathway from the DNA template to the tyrosine kinase responsible for inhibiting p34cdc2 activity.


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