The cleavage of a DNA phosphodiester bond by Escherichia coli DNA topoisomerase I and the simultaneous covalent linkage of the enzyme to the 5’-phosphoryl group of the DNA at the cleavage site have been reported previously (Depew, R. E., Liu, L. F., and Wang, J. C. (1978) J. Biol. Chem 253, 511-518; Liu, L. F., and Wang, J. C. (1979) J. Biol. Chem 254, 11082-11088). With either E. coli or Micmc...

Using the P4 unknotting assay, DNA topoisomerase I1 has been purified from several mammalian cells. Similar to prokaryotic DNA gyrase, mammalian DNA topoisomerase I1 can cleave double-stranded DNA and be trapped as a covalent protein-DNA complex. This cleavage reaction requires protein denaturant treatment of the topoisomerse 11-DNA complex and is reversible with respect to salt and temperature...

FokI is a type IIs restriction endonuclease comprised of a DNA recognition domain and a catalytic domain. The structural similarity of the FokI catalytic domain to the type II restriction endonuclease BamHI monomer suggested that the FokI catalytic domains may dimerize. In addition, the FokI structure, presented in an accompanying paper in this issue of Proceedings, reveals a dimerization inter...

During cut-and-paste mariner/Tc1 transposition, transposon DNA is cut precisely at its junction with flanking DNA, ensuring the transposon is neither shortened nor lengthened with each transposition event. Each transposon end is flanked by a TpA dinucleotide: the signature target site duplication of mariner/Tc1 transposition. To establish the role of this sequence in accurate DNA cleavage, we h...

Topoisomerase II resolves intrinsic topological problems of double-stranded DNA. As part of its essential cellular functions, the enzyme generates DNA breaks, but the regulation of this potentially dangerous process is not well understood. Here we report single-molecule fluorescence experiments that reveal a previously uncharacterized sequence of events during DNA cleavage by topoisomerase II: ...

Microcin B17 is a 3.1-kDa bactericidal peptide; the putative target of this antibiotic is DNA gyrase. Microcin B17 has no detectable effect on gyrase-catalysed DNA supercoiling or relaxation activities in vitro and is unable to stabilise DNA cleavage in the absence of nucleotides. However, in the presence of ATP, or the non-hydrolysable analogue 5'-adenylyl beta,gamma-imidodiphosphate, microcin...

Following V(D)J cleavage, the newly liberated DNA signal ends can be either fused together into a signal joint or used as donor DNA in RAG-mediated transposition. We find that both V(D)J cleavage and release of flanking coding DNA occur before the target capture step of transposition can proceed; no coding DNA is ever detected in the target capture complex. Separately from its role in V(D)J cle...

KpnI REase recognizes palindromic sequence, GGTACC, and forms complex in the absence of divalent metal ions, but requires the ions for DNA cleavage. Unlike most other REases, R.KpnI shows promiscuous DNA cleavage in the presence of Mg2+. Surprisingly, Ca2+ suppresses the Mg2+-mediated promiscuous activity and induces high fidelity cleavage. To further analyze these unique features of the enzyme...