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PubMedDate not supplied

[Bacteriophage P22 DNA structure in situ].

The structure of phage P22 DNA in situ was investigated by optical methods and by chemical modification with sodium bisulfite. On disruption of the phage particles by heating at 45 degrees a drop in absorbance at the 250 nm to 290 nm region was observed. At 260 nm this hypochromism was about 12%. CD spectra of intraphage DNA differed from that of free P22 DNA in the intensity as well as in the position of the positive band (lambda max 280 nm, delta epsilon max=1.3). In the intraphage DNA 21 per cent of cytosines reacted with sodium bisulfite. Cytosyl-amino acid products were found in the HClO4 and HCl hydrolysates of the modified phage. The main amino acid component of the product was identified as lysine. It was shown by means of gradient centrifugation and electron microscopy that the cytosyl-amino acid products result in the crosslinking of DNA to protein in the phage particles.

Circular Dichroism↗
PubMed1998

Maximum A posteriori classification of DNA structure from sequence information.

We introduce an algorithm, LLLAMA, which combines simple pattern recognizers into a general method for estimating the entropy of a sequence. Each pattern recognizer exploits a partial match between subsequences to build a model of the sequence. Since the primary features of interest in biological sequence domains are subsequences with small variations in exact composition, LLLAMA is particularly suited to such domains. We describe two methods, LLLAMA-length and LLLAMA-alone, which use this entropy estimate to perform maximum a posteriori classification. We apply these methods to several problems in three-dimensional structure classification of short DNA sequences. The results include a surprisingly low 3.6% error rate in predicting helical conformation of oligonucleotides. We compare our results to those obtained using more traditional methods for automated generation of classifiers.

Algorithms↗
PubMed1994

Stretched DNA structures observed with atomic force microscopy.

Double-stranded DNA molecules are occasionally found that appear to be straightened and stretched in atomic force microscope (AFM) images. Usually pBS+ plasmid and lambda DNA show relaxed structures with bends and kinks along the strands and have measured contour lengths consistent to about 5-7%; they also appear not to cross over each other, except in very high concentrations. The anomalous molecules observed here, compared with the majority of molecules in the preparation, show contour lengths increased by as much as 80% and have measured heights of about half that of normal relaxed DNA. Some molecules also appear to be in transition between stretched and relaxed forms. These observations are consistent with an uncoiling of the DNA helix without breakage of the covalent bonds in the deoxyribose-phosphate backbone.

Bacteriophage lambda↗
PubMed1981

Nucleotide sequence of the transforming early region E1b of adenovirus type 12 DNA: structure and gene organization, and comparison with those of adenovirus type 5 DNA.

The nucleotide sequence of the entire transforming early region of E1b of the highly oncogenic adenovirus type 12 (Ad12) DNA has been determined. The total sequence (3860 base pairs) encompasses the entire transforming early region E1 of Ad12 DNA. From the sequence for the E1b region of Ad12, and the transcription map of the E1b region (1, 2, 3, and this paper) the structure and gene organization of the early region E1b of Ad12 DNA were analyzed and compared with those of the E1b region in the non-oncogenic Ad5 DNA (4, 5). Most of the sequences in the E1b region of Ad12 was highly homologous to that of Ad5. It is predicted that the Ad12 region E1b codes for polypeptides of 53.9, 19.1, and 8.9 kd. This situation is identical with that of the Ad5 region E1b which codes for polypeptides of 54.9, 20.6, and 8.3 kd. The function of these predicted polypeptides encoded by the E1b regions in cell transformation is discussed.

Adenoviridae↗
PubMed1990

The new model of DNA structures.

The new model of the DNA dynamic state is proposed in terms of Watson-Crick (WC) and Corey-Pauling-Kortum (CPK) models by the modification of the cis ladder conformation. The model may rationally explain the DNA replication, transcription, renaturation, hybridization, premelting and breach etc.

DNA↗
PubMed2004

Molecular dynamics simulation study of oriented polyamine- and Na-DNA: sequence specific interactions and effects on DNA structure.

Molecular dynamics (MD) computer simulations have been carried out on four systems that correspond to an infinite array of parallel ordered B-DNA, mimicking the state in oriented DNA fibers and also being relevant for crystals of B-DNA oligonucleotides. The systems were all comprised of a periodical hexagonal cell with three identical DNA decamers, 15 water molecules per nucleotide, and counterions balancing the DNA charges. The sequence of the double helical DNA decamer was d(5'-ATGCAGTCAG)xd(5'-TGACTGCATC). The counterions were the two natural polyamines spermidine(3+) (Spd(3+)) and putrescine(2+) (Put(2+)), the synthetic polyamine diaminopropane(2+) (DAP(2+)), and the simple monovalent cation Na(+). This work compares the specific structures of the polyamine- and Na-DNA systems and how they are affected by counterion interactions. It also describes sequence-specific hydration and interaction of the cations with DNA. The local DNA structure is dependent on the nature of the counterion. Even the very similar polyamines, Put(2+) and DAP(2+), show clear differences in binding to DNA and in effect on hydration and local structure. Generally, the polyamines disorder the hydration of the DNA around their binding sites whereas Na(+) being bound to DNA attracts and organizes water in its vicinity. Cation binding at the selected sites in the minor and in the major groove is compared for the different polyamines and Na(+). We conclude that the synthetic polyamine (DAP(2+)) binds specifically to several structural and sequence-specific motifs on B-DNA, unlike the natural polyamines, Spd(3+) and Put(2+). This specificity of DAP(2+) compared to the more dynamic behavior of Spd(3+) and Put(2+) may explain why the latter polyamines are naturally occurring in cells.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1992

DNA structure, mutations, and human genetic disease.

The etiology of fragile X syndrome, myotonic dystrophy and Kennedy's disease has been attributed to the massive expansion of triplet repeat DNA sequences. This review details the relationships between the structural diversity of DNA, its secondary structure or DNA-directed mutagenesis, and the expansion of triplet repeats.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed2003

Increased temperature and 2-methyl-2,4-pentanediol change the DNA structure of both curved and uncurved adenine/thymine-rich sequences.

DNA curvature is affected by elevated temperature and dehydrating agents such as 2-methyl-2,4-pentanediol (MPD) (used in crystallization). This effect of MPD has been ascribed to a specific distortion of the structure of adenine tracts (A-tracts), probably through a deformation of the characteristic narrow minor groove. Uranyl photoprobing indicates that a narrowed minor groove is present in all A/T regions containing four or more A/T base pairs. Consequently, this technique may be employed to study conformational changes in other A/T-rich sequences than pure A-tracts. In this study we use uranyl photoprobing to demonstrate that the effect of elevated temperature and MPD is analogous on both "normal" and curve-inducing A/T-rich sequences. The results therefore indicate that under these conditions the minor groove is widened in all A/T sequences and not only in pure A-tracts as previously suggested. Thus, the rather subtle structural difference of AT regions and A-tracts in nonbent DNA versus A-tracts in bent DNA may be quantitative rather than qualitative; i.e., the structure is more persistent and/or rigid in bent DNA.

Adenine↗
PubMed1998

Sequence and DNA structural determinants of N4 virion RNA polymerase-promoter recognition.

Coliphage N4-coded, virion-encapsidated RNA polymerase (vRNAP) is able to bind to and transcribe promoter-containing double-stranded DNAs when the template is supercoiled and Escherichia coli single-stranded DNA-binding protein (Eco SSB) is present. We report that vRNAP-promoter recognition and activity on these templates require specific sequences and a hairpin structure on the template strand. Hairpin extrusion, induced by Mg(II) and physiological superhelical density, is essential to provide the correct DNA structure for polymerase recognition, as mutant promoters that do not form hairpins show reduced in vitro activity. Therefore, a supercoil-induced DNA structural transition regulates N4 vRNAP transcription. Eco SSB activates transcription at physiological superhelical densities by stabilizing the template-strand hairpin. Specific sequences at the promoters are conserved to provide proper contacts for vRNAP, to support hairpin extrusion, or both. We propose a model for in vivo utilization of the vRNAP promoters, and discuss the roles of DNA supercoiling and Eco SSB in promoter activation.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed2005

A simple motif for protein recognition in DNA secondary structures.

DNA in a single-stranded form (ssDNA) exists transiently within the cell and comprises the telomeres of linear chromosomes and the genomes of some DNA viruses. As with RNA, in the single-stranded state, some DNA sequences are able to fold into complex secondary and tertiary structures that may be recognized by proteins and participate in gene regulation. To better understand how such DNA elements might fold and interact with proteins, and to compare recognition features to those of a structured RNA, we used in vitro selection to identify ssDNAs that bind an RNA-binding peptide from the HIV Rev protein with high affinity and specificity. The large majority of selected binders contain a non-Watson-Crick G.T base-pair and an adjacent C:G base-pair and both are essential for binding. This GT motif can be presented in different DNA contexts, including a nearly perfect duplex and a branched three-helix structure, and appears to be recognized in large part by arginine residues separated by one turn of an alpha-helix. Interestingly, a very similar GT motif is necessary also for protein binding and function of a well-characterized model ssDNA regulatory element from the proenkephalin promoter.

Amino Acid Motifs↗
PubMed1994

The twist, writhe and overall shape of supercoiled DNA change during counterion-induced transition from a loosely to a tightly interwound superhelix. Possible implications for DNA structure in vivo.

A cryo-electron microscopy study of supercoiled DNA molecules freely suspended in cryo-vitrified buffer was combined with Monte Carlo simulations and gel electrophoretic analysis to investigate the role of intersegmental electrostatic repulsion in determining the shape of supercoiled DNA molecules. It is demonstrated here that a decrease of DNA-DNA repulsion by increasing concentrations of counterions causes a higher fraction of the linking number deficit to be partitioned into writhe. When counterions reach concentrations likely to be present under in vivo conditions, naturally supercoiled plasmids adopt a tightly interwound conformation. In these tightly supercoiled DNA molecules the opposing segments of interwound superhelix seem to directly contact each other. This form of supercoiling, where two DNA helices interact laterally, may represent an important functional state of DNA. In the particular case of supercoiled minicircles (178 bp) the delta Lk = -2 topoisomers undergo a sharp structural transition from almost planar circles in low salt buffers to strongly writhed "figure-eight" conformations in buffers containing neutralizing concentrations of counterions. Possible implications of this observed structural transition in DNA are discussed.

DNA, Superhelical↗
PubMed1990

Supercoil-induced unusual DNA structures as transcriptional block.

The transcriptional activity of pBR322 form V DNA template, a topologically unlinked, highly supercoiled molecule having unusual structures around or within coding regions was studied. Significant transcription was observed in vitro from this template despite high levels of supercoiling. An attenuated transcript, initiated accurately from the P4 promoter of rep gene, was observed which indicated pausing of E. coli RNA polymerase within the gene. This pausing could be removed by relieving the torsional stress implying that a supercoil induced structural alteration within the gene was acting as a transcriptional block. A stabilized unusual structure, most likely a cruciform, was found to be responsible for the elongation block. Absence of initiation from the tetR gene was correlated with the unusual structure present within its promoter region in form V DNA. These in vitro studies show that structural alterations within natural DNA could act as transcriptional blocks both at the level of initiation and elongation.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1988

Sequence-dependent variability of DNA structure. Influence of flanking sequences and fragment length on digestion by conformationally sensitive nucleases.

DNase I and 1,10-phenanthroline-copper are two nucleolytic activities which are sequence-dependent in their scission reaction yet are not nucleotide-specific at their site of cutting. When these two nucleases are used to digest identical sequences in 18-base pair oligonucleotides and in restriction fragments 10-fold longer, the digestion patterns are similar at sequence positions in the interior of the fragment. Changes in reactivity to 1,10-phenanthroline-copper associated with mutational changes in the lac promoter in biochemically functional restriction fragments are duplicated in 18-base pair oligonucleotides. The structural variability of a given DNA sequence detected by these conformationally sensitive nucleolytic activities is therefore encoded in local sequence and not sensitive to fragment length. Digestion patterns of a repeated 7-base pair sequence within a longer sequence have the same characteristic except for the two nucleotides at the 5' periphery of the direct repeat. This conclusion is based on the digestion pattern of a restriction fragment which contains the polyadenylation site of the mouse immunoglobulin mu heavy chain gene. Two pairs of different 7-base pair sequences repeated in this fragment retain their distinctive digestion patterns. DNA sequences which comprise the binding sites of regulatory proteins, retain a characteristic structure only influenced at their peripheries by two to three bases of the flanking sequence.

DNA↗
PubMed1994

Evidence for intramolecularly folded i-DNA structures in biologically relevant CCC-repeat sequences.

The structural behaviour of repetitive cytosine DNA is examined in the oligodeoxynucleotide sequences of (CCCTAA)3CCCT (HTC4), GC(TCCC)3TCCT(TCCC)3 (KRC6) and the methylated (CCCT)3TCCT(CCCT)3C (KRM6) by circular dichroism (CD), gel electrophoresis (PAGE), and ultra violet (UV) absorbance studies. All the three sequences exhibit a pH-induced cooperative structural transition as monitored by CD. An intense positive CD band around 285 nm develops on lowering the pH from 8 to slightly acidic condition, indicative of the formation of base pairs between protonated cytosines. The oligomers are found to melt in a fully reversible and cooperative fashion, with a melting temperature (Tm) of around 50 degrees C at pH 5.5. The melting temperatures are independent from DNA concentration, indicative of an intramolecular process involved in the structural formation. PAGE experiments performed with 32P-labeled samples as well as with normal staining procedures show a predominantly single band migration for all the three oligomers suggestive of a unimolecular structure. From pH titrations the number of protons required for generating the structures formed by HTC4, KRC6 and KRM6 results to be around six. These findings strongly suggest that all the three sequences adopt an intramolecular i-motif structure. The demonstration of i-motif structure for KRC6, a critical functional stretch of the c-ki-ras promoter proto-oncogene, besides the human telomeric sequence HTC4, may be suggestive of larger significance in the functioning of DNA.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1997

Recognition and manipulation of branched DNA structure by junction-resolving enzymes.

The junction-resolving enzymes are a class of nucleases that introduce paired cleavages into four-way DNA junctions. They are important in DNA recombination and repair, and are found throughout nature, from eubacteria and their bacteriophages through to higher eukaryotes and their viruses. These enzymes exhibit structure-selective binding to DNA junctions; although cleavage may be more or less sequence-dependent, binding affinity is purely related to the branched structure of the DNA. Binding and cleavage events can be separated for a number of the enzymes by mutagenesis, and mutant proteins that are defective in cleavage while retaining normal junction-selective binding have been isolated. Critical acidic residues have been identified in several resolving enzymes, suggesting a role in the coordination of metal ions that probably deliver the hydrolytic water molecule. The resolving enzymes all bind to junctions in dimeric form, and the subunits introduce independent cleavages within the lifetime of the enzyme-junction complex to ensure resolution of the four-way junction. In addition to recognising the structure of the junction, recent data from four different junction-resolving enzymes indicate that they also manipulate the global structure. In some cases this results in severe distortion of the folded structure of the junction. Understanding the recognition and manipulation of DNA structure by these enzymes is a fascinating challenge in molecular recognition.

Amino Acid Sequence↗