scholarly journals Two Family B DNA Polymerases from Aeropyrum pernix, an Aerobic Hyperthermophilic Crenarchaeote

1999 ◽  
Vol 181 (19) ◽  
pp. 5984-5992 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isaac K. O. Cann ◽  
Sonoko Ishino ◽  
Norimichi Nomura ◽  
Yoshihiko Sako ◽  
Yoshizumi Ishino

ABSTRACT DNA polymerase activities in fractionated cell extract ofAeropyrum pernix, a hyperthermophilic crenarchaeote, were investigated. Aphidicolin-sensitive (fraction I) and aphidicolin-resistant (fraction II) activities were detected. The activity in fraction I was more heat stable than that in fraction II. Two different genes (polA and polB) encoding family B DNA polymerases were cloned from the organism by PCR using degenerated primers based on the two conserved motifs (motif A and B). The deduced amino acid sequences from their entire coding regions contained all of the motifs identified in family B DNA polymerases for 3′→5′ exonuclease and polymerase activities. The product ofpolA gene (Pol I) was aphidicolin resistant and heat stable up to 80°C. In contrast, the product of polB gene (Pol II) was aphidicolin sensitive and stable at 95°C. These properties of Pol I and Pol II are similar to those of fractions II and I, respectively, and moreover, those of Pol I and Pol II ofPyrodictium occultum. The deduced amino acid sequence ofA. pernix Pol I exhibited the highest identities to archaeal family B DNA polymerase homologs found only in the crenarchaeotes (group I), while Pol II exhibited identities to homologs found in both euryarchaeotes and crenarchaeotes (group II). These results provide further evidence that the subdomainCrenarchaeota has two family B DNA polymerases. Furthermore, at least two DNA polymerases work in the crenarchaeal cells, as found in euryarchaeotes, which contain one family B DNA polymerase and one heterodimeric DNA polymerase of a novel family.

2002 ◽  
Vol 184 (3) ◽  
pp. 687-694 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katsuya Daimon ◽  
Yutaka Kawarabayasi ◽  
Hisashi Kikuchi ◽  
Yoshihiko Sako ◽  
Yoshizumi Ishino

ABSTRACT Proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) is an essential component in the eukaryotic DNA replication machinery, in which it works for tethering DNA polymerases on the DNA template to accomplish processive DNA synthesis. The PCNA also interacts with many other proteins in important cellular processes, including cell cycle control, DNA repair, and an apoptotic pathway in the domain Eucarya. We identified three genes encoding PCNA-like sequences in the genome of Aeropyrum pernix, a crenarchaeal archaeon. We cloned and expressed these genes in Escherichia coli and analyzed the gene products. All three PCNA homologs stimulated the primer extension activities of the two DNA polymerases, polymerase I (Pol I) and Pol II, identified in A. pernix to various extents, among which A. pernix PCNA 3 (ApePCNA3) provided a most remarkable effect on both Pol I and Pol II. The three proteins were confirmed to exist in the A. pernix cells. These results suggest that the three PCNAs work as the processivity factor of DNA polymerases in A. pernix cells under different conditions. In Eucarya, three checkpoint proteins, Hus1, Rad1, and Rad9, have been proposed to form a PCNA-like ring structure and may work as a sliding clamp for the translesion DNA polymerases. Therefore, it is very interesting that three active PCNAs were found in one archaeal cell. Further analyses are necessary to determine whether each PCNA has specific roles, and moreover, how they reveal different functions in the cells.


Genetics ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 134 (4) ◽  
pp. 1039-1044 ◽  
Author(s):  
I J Fijalkowska ◽  
R M Schaaper

Abstract The dnaE gene of Escherichia coli encodes the DNA polymerase (alpha subunit) of the main replicative enzyme, DNA polymerase III holoenzyme. We have previously identified this gene as the site of a series of seven antimutator mutations that specifically decrease the level of DNA replication errors. Here we report the nucleotide sequence changes in each of the different antimutator dnaE alleles. For each a single, but different, amino acid substitution was found among the 1,160 amino acids of the protein. The observed substitutions are generally nonconservative. All affected residues are located in the central one-third of the protein. Some insight into the function of the regions of polymerase III containing the affected residues was obtained by amino acid alignment with other DNA polymerases. We followed the principles developed in 1990 by M. Delarue et al. who have identified in DNA polymerases from a large number of prokaryotic and eukaryotic sources three highly conserved sequence motifs, which are suggested to contain components of the polymerase active site. We succeeded in finding these three conserved motifs in polymerase III as well. However, none of the amino acid substitutions responsible for the antimutator phenotype occurred at these sites. This and other observations suggest that the effect of these mutations may be exerted indirectly through effects on polymerase conformation and/or DNA/polymerase interactions.


2003 ◽  
Vol 77 (3) ◽  
pp. 1868-1876 ◽  
Author(s):  
Darrell R. Thomsen ◽  
Nancee L. Oien ◽  
Todd A. Hopkins ◽  
Mary L. Knechtel ◽  
Roger J. Brideau ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The 4-oxo-dihydroquinolines (PNU-182171 and PNU-183792) are nonnucleoside inhibitors of herpesvirus polymerases (R. J. Brideau et al., Antiviral Res. 54:19-28, 2002; N. L. Oien et al., Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 46:724-730, 2002). In cell culture these compounds inhibit herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1), HSV-2, human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), varicella-zoster virus (VZV), and human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) replication. HSV-1 and HSV-2 mutants resistant to these drugs were isolated and the resistance mutation was mapped to the DNA polymerase gene. Drug resistance correlated with a point mutation in conserved domain III that resulted in a V823A change in the HSV-1 or the equivalent amino acid in the HSV-2 DNA polymerase. Resistance of HCMV was also found to correlate with amino acid changes in conserved domain III (V823A+V824L). V823 is conserved in the DNA polymerases of six (HSV-1, HSV-2, HCMV, VZV, Epstein-Barr virus, and HHV-8) of the eight human herpesviruses; the HHV-6 and HHV-7 polymerases contain an alanine at this amino acid. In vitro polymerase assays demonstrated that HSV-1, HSV-2, HCMV, VZV, and HHV-8 polymerases were inhibited by PNU-183792, whereas the HHV-6 polymerase was not. Changing this amino acid from valine to alanine in the HSV-1, HCMV, and HHV-8 polymerases alters the polymerase activity so that it is less sensitive to drug inhibition. In contrast, changing the equivalent amino acid in the HHV-6 polymerase from alanine to valine alters polymerase activity so that PNU-183792 inhibits this enzyme. The HSV-1, HSV-2, and HCMV drug-resistant mutants were not altered in their susceptibilities to nucleoside analogs; in fact, some of the mutants were hypersensitive to several of the drugs. These results support a mechanism where PNU-183792 inhibits herpesviruses by interacting with a binding determinant on the viral DNA polymerase that is less important for the binding of nucleoside analogs and deoxynucleoside triphosphates.


1999 ◽  
Vol 181 (8) ◽  
pp. 2535-2547 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katja E. Hill ◽  
Julian R. Marchesi ◽  
Andrew J. Weightman

ABSTRACT Dehalogenases are key enzymes in the metabolism of halo-organic compounds. This paper describes a systematic approach to the isolation and molecular analysis of two families of bacterial α-halocarboxylic acid (αHA) dehalogenase genes, called group I and group II deh genes. The two families are evolutionarily unrelated and together represent almost all of the αHAdeh genes described to date. We report the design and evaluation of degenerate PCR primer pairs for the separate amplification and isolation of group I and II dehgenes. Amino acid sequences derived from 10 of 11 group Ideh partial gene products of new and previously reported bacterial isolates showed conservation of five residues previously identified as essential for activity. The exception, DehD from a Rhizobium sp., had only two of these five residues. Group II deh gene sequences were amplified from 54 newly isolated strains, and seven of these sequences were cloned and fully characterized. Group II dehalogenases were stereoselective, dechlorinating l- but not d-2-chloropropionic acid, and derived amino acid sequences for all of the genes exceptdehII°P11 showed conservation of previously identified essential residues. Molecular analysis of the twodeh families highlighted four subdivisions in each, which were supported by high bootstrap values in phylogenetic trees and by enzyme structure-function considerations. Group Ideh genes included two putative cryptic or silent genes, dehI°PP3 anddehI°17a, produced by different organisms. Group II deh genes included two cryptic genes and an active gene, dehII PP3, that can be switched off and on. All αHA-degrading bacteria so far described were Proteobacteria, a result that may be explained by limitations either in the host range fordeh genes or in isolation methods.


2003 ◽  
Vol 30 (8) ◽  
pp. 843 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tursun Kerim ◽  
Nijat Imin ◽  
Jeremy J. Weinman ◽  
Barry G. Rolfe

Three isoallergens of Ory s 2, homologues of grass group II pollen allergens, were identified from rice and characterised by proteome and immunochemical analyses. The N-terminal amino acid sequence profiles of three proteins on a 2-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) gel of rice pollen proteins matched 100% to the protein sequences encoded by three rice expressed sequence tags (ESTs). The deduced protein sequences from these ESTs share sequence identities of 41–43% with the protein sequences of the group II pollen allergens of different grasses, and sequence identity of 39% with the C-terminal portion of rice group I pollen allergens. Signal peptide sequences, which are similar to the leader peptides of other major pollen allergens, are also present in the deduced amino acid sequences. Polyclonal antibodies, produced in rabbits using Ory s 2 proteins purified by 2-DE, were used to investigate the developmental-stage- and tissue-specific expression of Ory s 2 by immunochemical analysis. Results of immunochemical experiments show that Ory s 2 proteins are expressed only at the late stage of pollen development and they do not have cross-reactivity with group II pollen allergens from some other common grasses.


1989 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wolfram Zillig ◽  
Hans-Peter Klenk ◽  
Peter Palm ◽  
Gabriela Pühler ◽  
Felix Gropp ◽  
...  

Unrooted phylogenetic dendrograms were calculated by two independent methods, parsimony and distance matrix analysis, from an alignment of the derived amino acid sequences of the A and C subunits of the DNA-dependent RNA polymerases of the archaebacteria Sulfolobus acidocaldarius and Halobacterium halobium with 12 corresponding sequences including a further set of archaebacterial A + C subunits, eukaryotic nuclear RNA polymerases, pol I, pol II, and pol III, eubacterial β′ and chloroplast β′ and β″ subunits. They show the archaebacteria as a coherent group in close neighborhood of and sharing a bifurcation with eukaryotic pol II and (or) pol IIIA components. The most probable trees show pol IA branching off from the tree separately at a bifurcation with the eubacterial β′ lineage. The implications of these results, especially for understanding the possibly chimeric origin of the eukaryotic nuclear genome, are discussed.Key words: transcription, evolution, taxonomy, subunits, gene organization.


1993 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 3734-3743 ◽  
Author(s):  
H M Chung ◽  
M G Lee ◽  
P Dietrich ◽  
J Huang ◽  
L H Van der Ploeg

Two types of largest subunit RNA polymerase II (pol II) genes (pol IIA and pol IIB), differing in 3 amino acid substitutions, are encoded in the Trypanosoma brucei (stock 427-60) genome. As a result, the alpha-amanitin-resistant transcription of the procyclic acidic repetitive protein (PARP) and variant surface glycoprotein (VSG) genes was proposed to involve a modified, alpha-amanitin-resistant form of the largest subunit of pol II. Alternatively, pol I could transcribe the PARP and VSG genes. To discriminate between these two models, we deleted the N-terminal domain (about one-third of the polypeptide), which encodes the amino acid substitutions which discriminated the pol IIA and pol IIB genes, at both pol IIB alleles. The pol IIB- trypanosomes still transcribe the PARP genes and the VSG gene promoter region in insect-form trypanosomes by alpha-amanitin-resistant RNA polymerases, while control housekeeping genes are transcribed in an alpha-amanitin-sensitive manner, presumably by pol IIA. We conclude that the alpha-amanitin-resistant transcription of protein coding genes in T. brucei is not mediated by a diverged form of the largest subunit of pol II and that the presence of both the pol IIA and pol IIB genes is not essential for trypanosome viability. This conclusion was further supported by the finding that individual trypanosome variants exhibited allelic heterogeneity for the previously identified amino acid substitutions and that various permutations of the polymorphic amino acids generate at least four different types of largest subunit pol II genes. The expression of the PARP genes and the VSG gene promoter region by alpha-amanitin-resistant RNA polymerases in the pol IIB- trypanosomes provides evidence for transcription of these genes by pol I.


2000 ◽  
Vol 81 (9) ◽  
pp. 2313-2325 ◽  
Author(s):  
David B. Levin ◽  
Beatrixe Whittome

Phylogenetic analyses based on baculovirus polyhedrin nucleotide and amino acid sequences revealed two major nucleopolyhedrovirus (NPV) clades, designated Group I and Group II. Subsequent phylogenetic analyses have revealed three Group II subclades, designated A, B and C. Variations in amino acid frequencies determine the extent of dissimilarity for divergent but structurally and functionally conserved genes and therefore significantly influence the analysis of phylogenetic relationships. Hence, it is important to consider variations in amino acid codon usage. The Genome Hypothesis postulates that genes in any given genome use the same coding pattern with respect to synonymous codons and that genes in phylogenetically related species generally show the same pattern of codon usage. We have examined codon usage in six genes from six NPVs and found that: (1) there is significant variation in codon use by genes within the same virus genome; (2) there is significant variation in the codon usage of homologous genes encoded by different NPVs; (3) there is no correlation between the level of gene expression and codon bias in NPVs; (4) there is no correlation between gene length and codon bias in NPVs; and (5) that while codon use bias appears to be conserved between viruses that are closely related phylogenetically, the patterns of codon usage also appear to be a direct function of the GC-content of the virus-encoded genes.


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