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PubMed1987

DNA and RNA sequencing utilizing phosphorothioate chemistry.

A method for nucleic acid sequencing has been developed based on the observation that phosphorothioate diesters are hydrolysed by treatment with 2-iodoethanol in a solution of aqueous ethanol. For DNA sequencing, primed single-stranded M13 DNA is polymerised with the Klenow fragment of DNA polymerase I in the presence of the three normal deoxyribonucleotide triphosphates and one alpha-phosphorothioate derivative. This is followed by treatment with 2-iodoethanol, precipitation of the DNA fragments and analysis by polyacrylamide electrophoresis. RNA transcribed from plasmids containing the SP6 RNA polymerase promoter is sequenced by including the alpha-phosphorothioate derivative of the ribonucleotide triphosphates in the polymerisation and treating the product with iodoethane. The cleavage reaction involves alkylation of the sulfur atom to form the phosphorothioate triester and hydrolysis catalysed by an adjacent hydroxyl group.

Base Sequence↗

PubMed1984

Interaction of thiamin diphosphate and thiamin thiazolone diphosphate with wheat germ pyruvate decarboxylase.

The interactions of the apoenzyme of wheat germ pyruvate decarboxylase with thiamin diphosphate and with thiamin thiazolone diphosphate have been investigated. The results test hypotheses concerning the structure of the transition state for decarboxylation of the enzyme-bound adduct of pyruvate and thiamin diphosphate. Thiamin thiazolone diphosphate, a possible transition state analogue, binds to the apoenzyme by a two-step process. The first is slow and reversible (k = 200 M-1 s-1; K = 5 X 10(-7) M). The second step is irreversible (k = 1 X 10(-6) s-1). The rate constant for activation by thiamin diphosphate is 160 M-1 s-1. Thiamin diphosphate is released very slowly from the holoenzyme (k = 2 X 10(-5) s-1). Thiamin thiazolone diphosphate competitively inhibits activation of the apoenzyme by thiamin diphosphate, Ki = 2 X 10(-6) M. Km for thiamin diphosphate is only 3 times larger. Thiamin thiazolone is solvated preferentially to thiamin in 2-butanol, a medium whose polarity should resemble that of the binding site. It is concluded that the observed high affinity of thiamin thiazolone diphosphate for the apoenzyme is the result of a combination of effects which do not require the assumption that it is an analogue of the transition state for the decarboxylation of enzyme-bound 2-(2-lactyl) thiamin diphosphate.

Carboxy-Lyases↗