Showing papers on "In vitro recombination published in 1998"

A new logic for DNA engineering using recombination in Escherichia coli

Abstract: A straightforward way to engineer DNA in E. coli using homologous recombination is described. The homologous recombination reaction uses RecE and RecT and is transferable between E. coli strains. Several target molecules were manipulated, including high copy plasmids, a large episome and the E. coli chromosome. Sequential steps of homologous or site-specific recombination were used to demonstrate a new logic for engineering DNA, unlimited by the disposition of restriction endonuclease cleavage sites or the size of the target DNA.

Molecular evolution by staggered extension process (StEP) in vitro recombination

Abstract: We have developed a simple and efficient method for in vitro mutagenesis and recombination of polynu-cleotide sequences. The staggered extension process (StEP) consists of priming the template sequence(s) followed by repeated cycles of denaturation and extremely abbreviated annealing/polymerase-catalyzed extension. In each cycle the growing fragments anneal to different templates based on sequence complementarity and extend further. This is repeated until full-length sequences form. Due to template switching, most of the polynucleotides contain sequence information from different parental sequences. The method is demonstrated by the recombination of two genes encoding thermostable subtilisins carrying two phenotypic markers separated by 113 base pairs and eight other point mutation markers. To demonstrate its utility for directed evolution, we have used StEP to recombine a set of five thermostabilized subtilisin E variants identified during a single round of error-prone PCR mutagenesis and screening. Screening the StEP-recombined library yielded an enzyme whose half-life at 65°C is 50 times that of wild-type subtilisin E.

Transposition mediated by RAG1 and RAG2 and its implications for the evolution of the immune system

Abstract: Immunoglobulin and T-cell-receptor genes are assembled from component gene segments in developing lymphocytes by a site-specific recombination reaction, V(D)J recombination The proteins encoded by the recombination-activating genes, RAG1 and RAG2, are essential in this reaction, mediating sequence-specific DNA recognition of well-defined recombination signals and DNA cleavage next to these signals Here we show that RAG1 and RAG2 together form a transposase capable of excising a piece of DNA containing recombination signals from a donor site and inserting it into a target DNA molecule The products formed contain a short duplication of target DNA immediately flanking the transposed fragment, a structure like that created by retroviral integration and all known transposition reactions The results support the theory that RAG1 and RAG2 were once components of a transposable element, and that the split nature of immunoglobulin and T-cell-receptor genes derives from germline insertion of this element into an ancestral receptor gene soon after the evolutionary divergence of jawed and jawless vertebrates

Random-priming in vitro recombination: An effective tool for directed evolution

Abstract: A simple and efficient method for in vitro mutagenesis and recombination of polynucleotide sequences is reported. The method involves priming template polynucleotide(s) with random-sequence primers and extending to generate a pool of short DNA fragments which contain a controllable level of point mutations. The fragments are reassembled during cycles of denaturation, annealing and further enzyme-catalyzed DNA polymerization to produce a library of full-length sequences. Screening or selecting the expressed gene products leads to new variants with improved functions, as demonstrated by the recombination of genes encoding different thermostable subtilisins in order to obtain enzymes more stable than either parent.

Cleaving DNA with DNA

Abstract: A DNA structure is described that can cleave single-stranded DNA oligonucleotides in the presence of ionic copper. This “deoxyribozyme” can self-cleave or can operate as a bimolecular complex that simultaneously makes use of duplex and triplex interactions to bind and cleave separate DNA substrates. Bimolecular deoxyribozyme-mediated strand scission proceeds with a kobs of 0.2 min−1, whereas the corresponding uncatalyzed reaction could not be detected. The duplex and triplex recognition domains can be altered, making possible the targeted cleavage of single-stranded DNAs with different nucleotide sequences. Several small synthetic DNAs were made to function as simple “restriction enzymes” for the site-specific cleavage of single-stranded DNA.

Structure and function of mammalian DNA ligases

Abstract: DNA joining events are required for the completion of DNA replication, DNA excision repair and genetic recombination. Five DNA ligase activities, I–V, have been purified from mammalian cell extracts and three mammalian LIG genes, LIG1 , LIG3 and LIG4 , have been cloned. During DNA replication, the joining of Okazaki fragments by the LIG1 gene product appears to be mediated by an interaction with proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA). This interaction may also occur during the completion of mismatch, nucleotide excision and base excision repair (BER). In addition, DNA ligase I participates in a second BER pathway that is carried out by a multiprotein complex in which DNA ligase I interacts directly with DNA polymerase β. DNA ligase IIIα and DNA ligase IIIβ, which are generated by alternative splicing of the LIG3 gene, can be distinguished by their ability to bind to the DNA repair protein, XRCC1. The interaction between DNA ligase IIIα and XRCC1, which occurs through BRCT motifs in the C-termini of these polypeptides, implicates this isoform of DNA ligase III in the repair of DNA single-strand breaks and BER. DNA ligase II appears to be a proteolytic fragment of DNA ligase IIIα. The restricted expression of DNA ligase IIIβ suggests that this enzyme may function in the completion of meiotic recombination or in a postmeiosis DNA repair pathway. Complex formation between DNA ligase IV and the DNA repair protein XRCC4 involves the C-terminal region of DNA ligase IV, which contains two BRCT motifs. This interaction, which stimulates DNA joining activity, implies that DNA ligase IV functions in V(D)J recombination and non-homologous end-joining of DNA double-strand breaks. At the present time, it is not known whether DNA ligase V is derived from one of the known mammalian LIG genes or is the product of a novel gene.

Method for producing complex dna methylation fingerprints

Abstract: The invention relates to a method for characterising, classifying and distinguishing tissues and cell types, for predicting the behaviour of tissues and groups of cells, and for identifying genes which have altered in their expression. Said method is characterised in that the base cytosine (not 5-methyl-cytosine) in a genomic DNA taken from any tissue sample is converted into uracil through treatment with a bisulphite solution. Fractions of the genomic DNA which has been treated are amplified by using very short or degenerated oligonucleotides, and the remaining cytosines of the amplified fractions are detected by means of hybridisation or polymerase reaction. The data generated from the analysis and automatically transferred to a processing algorithm is then used to draw conclusions as to the phenotype of the cell material which was analysed.

Recombinational cloning using nucleic acids having recombination sites

Abstract: Recombinational cloning is provided by the use of nucleic acids, vectors and methods, in vitro and in vivo, for moving or exchanging segments of DNA molecules using engineered recombination sites and recombination proteins to provide chimeric DNA molecules that have the desired characteristic(s) and/or DNA segment(s).

Homologous pairing in stretched supercoiled DNA

Abstract: By using elastic measurements on single DNA molecules, we show that stretching a negatively supercoiled DNA activates homologous pairing in physiological conditions. These experiments indicate that a stretched unwound DNA locally denatures to alleviate the force-driven increase in torsional stress. This is detected by hybridization with 1 kb of homologous single-stranded DNA probes. The stretching force involved (≈2 pN) is small compared with those typically developed by molecular motors, suggesting that this process may be relevant to DNA processing in vivo. We used this technique to monitor the progressive denaturation of DNA as it is unwound and found that distinct, stable denaturation bubbles formed, beginning in A+T-rich regions.

Transgenic DNA integrated into the oat genome is frequently interspersed by host DNA.

Abstract: Integration of transgenic DNA into the plant genome was investigated in 13 transgenic oat (Avena sativa L.) lines produced using microprojectile bombardment with one or two cotransformed plasmids. In all transformation events, the transgenic DNA integrated into the plant genome consisted of intact transgene copies that were accompanied by multiple, rearranged, and/or truncated transgene fragments. All fragments of transgenic DNA cosegregated, indicating that they were integrated at single gene loci. Analysis of the structure of the transgenic loci indicated that the transgenic DNA was interspersed by the host genomic DNA. The number of insertions of transgenic DNA within the transgene loci varied from 2 to 12 among the 13 lines. Restriction endonucleases that do not cleave the introduced plasmids produced restriction fragments ranging from 3.6 to about 60 kb in length hybridizing to a probe comprising the introduced plasmids. Although the size of the interspersing host DNA within the transgene locus is unknown, the sizes of the transgene-hybridizing restriction fragments indicated that the entire transgene locus must be at least from 35–280 kb. The observation that all transgenic lines analyzed exhibited genomic interspersion of multiple clustered transgenes suggests a predominating integration mechanism. We propose that transgene integration at multiple clustered DNA replication forks could account for the observed interspersion of transgenic DNA with host genomic DNA within transgenic loci.

Cloning and stable maintenance of DNA fragments over 300 kb in Escherichia coli with conventional plasmid-based vectors

Abstract: Bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) and P1-derived artificial chromosome (PAC) systems were previously developed for cloning of very large eukaryotic DNA fragments in bacteria. We report the feasibility of cloning very large fragments of eukaryotic DNA in bacteria using conventional plasmid-based vectors. One conventional plasmid vector (pGEM11), one conventional binary plasmid vector (pSLJ1711) and one conventional binary cosmid vector (pCLD04541) were investigated using the widely used BAC (pBeloBAC11 and pECBAC1) and BIBAC (BIBAC2) vectors as controls. The plasmid vector pGEM11 yielded clones ranging in insert sizes from 40 to 100 kb, whereas the two binary vectors pCLD04541 and pSLJ1711 yielded clones ranging in insert sizes from 40 to 310 kb. Analysis of the pCLD04541 and pSLJ1711 clones indicated that they had insert sizes and stabilities similar to the BACs and BIBACs. Our findings indicate that conventional plasmid-based vectors are capable of cloning and stably maintaining DNA fragments as large as BACs and PACs in bacteria. These results suggest that many existing plasmid-based vectors, including plant and animal transformation and expression binary vectors, could be directly used for cloning of very large eukaryotic DNA fragments. The pCLD04541 and pSLJ1711 clones were shown to be present at at least 4-5 copies/cell. The high stability of these clones indicates that stability of clones does not seem contingent on single-copy status. The insert sizes and the copy numbers of the pCLD04541 and pSLJ1711 clones indicate that Escherichia coli can stably maintain at least 1200 kb of foreign DNA per cell. These results provide a new conceptual and theoretical basis for development of improved and new vectors for large DNA fragment cloning and transformation. According to this discovery, we have established a system for large DNA fragment cloning in bacteria using the two binary vectors, with which several very large-insert DNA libraries have been developed.

Gene conversion as a tool for the construction of recombinant industrial filamentous fungi

Abstract: The present invention relates to filamentous fungi that comprise in their genomes at least two substantially homologous DNA domains which are suitable for integration of one or more copies of a recombinant DNA molecule and wherein at least two of these DNA domains comprise an integrated copy of a recombinant DNA molecule. The invention also relates to methods for preparing such filamentous fungi and for further multiplying the DNA domains with integrated recombinant DNA molecules through gene conversion or amplification.

In vitro method for the generation of protein libraries using PCR amplification of a single DNA molecule and coupled transcription/translation.

Abstract: A novel in vitro method for the generation of a protein library has been developed using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of a single DNA molecule followed by in vitro coupled transcription/translation. DNA template encoding green fluorescent protein of a jellyfish Aequorea victoria was extensively diluted to one molecule per well, and then amplified by a total of 80 cycles of PCR with nested primers. The exact number of origins in the amplified DNA fragment was then estimated by directly sequencing a part of the fragment, at which an individual template molecule was marked by PCR with a primer containing three randomized bases. Since the sequences obtained in 91 independent amplifications were diversified statistically, each amplified fragment was likely originated from a single DNA molecule. In addition, the amplified fragments served as a template for in vitro coupled transcription/translation using T7 RNA polymerase and Escherichia coli S30 extract. These results suggest that the library obtained by the PCR amplification of a single DNA molecule diluted from a variety of DNA pools is potentially useful in high-throughput generation of protein libraries.

Specificity and fidelity of strand joining by Chlorella virus DNA ligase.

Abstract: Chlorella virus PBCV-1 DNA ligase seals nicked duplex DNA substrates consisting of a 5'-phosphate-terminated strand and a 3'-hydroxyl-terminated strand annealed to a bridging template strand, but cannot ligate a nicked duplex composed of two DNAs annealed on an RNA template. Whereas PBCV-1 ligase efficiently joins a 3'-OH RNA to a 5'-phosphate DNA, it is unable to join a 3'-OH DNA to a 5'-phosphate RNA. The ligase discriminates at the substrate binding step between nicked duplexes containing 5'-phosphate DNA versus 5'-phosphate RNA strands. PBCV-1 ligase readily seals a nicked duplex DNA containing a single ribonucleotide substitution at the reactive 5'-phosphate end. These results suggest a requirement for a B-form helical conformation of the polynucleotide on the 5'-phosphate side of the nick. Single base mismatches at the nick exert disparate effects on DNA ligation efficiency. PBCV-1 ligase tolerates mismatches involving the 5'-phosphate nucleotide, with the exception of 5'-A:G and 5'-G:A mispairs, which reduce ligase activity by two orders of magnitude. Inhibitory configurations at the 3'-OH nucleotide include 3'-G:A, 3'-G:T, 3'-T:T, 3'-A:G, 3'-G:G, 3'-A:C and 3'-C:C. Our findings indicate that Chlorella virus DNA ligase has the potential to affect genome integrity by embedding ribonucleotides in viral DNA and by sealing nicked molecules with mispaired ends, thereby generating missense mutations.

Characterization of the Single-Stranded DNA Binding Protein Encoded by the Vaccinia Virus I3 Gene

Abstract: The 34-kDa protein encoded by the I3 gene of vaccinia virus is expressed at early and intermediate times postinfection and is phosphorylated on serine residues. Recombinant I3 has been expressed in Escherichia coli and purified to near homogeneity, as has the protein from infected cells. Both recombinant and endogenous I3 protein demonstrate a striking affinity for single-stranded, but not for double-stranded, DNA. The interaction with DNA is resistant to salt, exhibits low cooperativity, and appears to involve a binding site of approximately 10 nucleotides. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays indicate that numerous I3 molecules can bind to a template, reflecting the stoichiometric interaction of I3 with DNA. Sequence analysis reveals that a pattern of aromatic and charged amino acids common to many replicative single-stranded DNA binding proteins (SSBs) is conserved in I3. The inability to isolate viable virus containing an interrupted I3 allele provides strong evidence that the I3 protein plays an essential role in the viral life cycle. A likely role for I3 as an SSB involved in DNA replication and/or repair is discussed.

Effects of Mutations in Residues near the Active Site of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Integrase on Specific Enzyme-Substrate Interactions

Abstract: The phylogenetically conserved catalytic core domain of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) integrase contains elements necessary for specific recognition of viral and target DNA features. In order to identify specific amino acids that determine substrate specificity, we mutagenized phylogenetically conserved residues that were located in close proximity to the active-site residues in the crystal structure of the isolated catalytic core domain of HIV-1 integrase. Residues composing the phylogenetically conserved DD(35)E active-site motif were also mutagenized. Purified mutant proteins were evaluated for their ability to recognize the phylogenetically conserved CA/TG base pairs near the viral DNA ends and the unpaired dinucleotide at the 5′ end of the viral DNA, using disintegration substrates. Our findings suggest that specificity for the conserved A/T base pair depends on the active-site residue E152. The phenotype of IN(Q148L) suggested that Q148 may be involved in interactions with the 5′ dinucleotide of the viral DNA end. The activities of some of the proteins with mutations in residues in close proximity to the active-site aspartic and glutamic acids were salt sensitive, suggesting that these mutations disrupted interactions with DNA.