Abstract
Previous studies have indicated that the ultraviolet endonuclease of bacteriophage T4 acts specifically at pyrimidine dimer sites in ultraviolet irradiated DNA. At such sites the enzyme could conceivably catalyze endonucleolytic incision of the DNA either on the dimer containing strand or on the strand directly opposite to the dimer. In the present work, a direct test of these alternatives was made. Substrate molecules containing one irradiated and one unirradiated strand were prepared from differentially isotopically labeled purified complementary strands of bacteriophage λDNA. Following incubation with the enzyme, the sedimentation profiles of the DNA strands in alkaline sucrose density gradients were compared. The results show that the enzyme selectivity nicks the irradiated strand.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 8748-8752 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | Journal of Biological Chemistry |
Volume | 250 |
Issue number | 22 |
State | Published - 1975 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Biochemistry
- Molecular Biology
- Cell Biology