DNA polymerase III holoenzyme from Thermus thermophilus identification, expression, purification of components, and use to reconstitute a processive replicase

DNA replication in bacteria is performed by a specialized multicomponent replicase, the DNA polymerase III holoenzyme, that consist of three essential components: a polymerase, the beta sliding clamp processivity factor, and the DnaX complex clamp-loader. We report here the assembly of the minimal functional holoenzyme from Thermus thermophilus (Tth), an extreme thermophile. The minimal holoenzyme consists of alpha (pol III catalytic subunit), beta (sliding clamp processivity factor), and the essential DnaX (tau/gamma), delta and delta' components of the DnaX complex. We show with purified recombinant proteins that these five components are required for rapid and processive DNA synthesis on long single-stranded DNA templates. Subunit interactions known to occur in DNA polymerase III holoenzyme from mesophilic bacteria including delta-delta' interaction, deltadelta'-tau/gamma complex formation, and alpha-tau interaction, also occur within the Tth enzyme. As in mesophilic holoenzymes, in the presence of a primed DNA template, these subunits assemble into a stable initiation complex in an ATP-dependent manner. However, in contrast to replicative polymerases from mesophilic bacteria, Tth holoenzyme is efficient only at temperatures above 50 degrees C, both with regard to initiation complex formation and processive DNA synthesis. The minimal Tth DNA polymerase III holoenzyme displays an elongation rate of 350 bp/s at 72 degrees C and a processivity of greater than 8.6 kilobases, the length of the template that is fully replicated after a single association event.     

Devoted to the lagging strand-the subunit of DNA polymerase III holoenzyme contacts SSB to promote processive elongation and sliding clamp assembly.

Escherichia coli DNA polymerase III holoenzyme contains 10 different subunits which assort into three functional components: a core catalytic unit containing DNA polymerase activity, the beta sliding clamp that encircles DNA for processive replication, and a multisubunit clamp loader apparatus called gamma complex that uses ATP to assemble the beta clamp onto DNA. We examine here the function of the psi subunit of the gamma complex clamp loader. Omission of psi from the holoenzyme prevents contact with single-stranded DNA-binding protein (SSB) and lowers the efficiency of clamp loading and chain elongation under conditions of elevated salt. We also show that the product of a classic point mutant of SSB, SSB-113, lacks strong affinity for psi and is defective in promoting clamp loading and processive replication at elevated ionic strength. SSB-113 carries a single amino acid replacement at the penultimate residue of the C-terminus, indicating the C-terminus as a site of interaction with psi. Indeed, a peptide of the 15 C-terminal residues of SSB is sufficient to bind to psi. These results establish a role for the psi subunit in contacting SSB, thus enhancing the clamp loading and processivity of synthesis of the holoenzyme, presumably by helping to localize the holoenzyme to sites of SSB-coated ssDNA.     

DNA polymerase III holoenzyme of Escherichia coli. III. Distinctive processive polymerases reconstituted from purified subunits

The 10 distinctive polypeptides of DNA polymerase III holoenzyme, purified as individual subunits or complexes, could be reconstituted to generate a polymerase with the high catalytic rate of the isolated intact holoenzyme. Functions and interactions of the subunits can be inferred from partial assemblies of the pol III core (alpha, epsilon, and theta subunits) with auxiliary subunits. The core possesses the polymerase and proofreading activities; the auxiliary subunits provide the core with processivity, the capacity to replicate long stretches of DNA without dissociating from the template. In a sequence of reconstruction steps, the beta subunit binds the primed template in an ATP-dependent manner through the catalytic action of a complex made up of the gamma, delta, delta', chi, and psi polypeptides. With the beta subunit in place, a processive polymerase is produced upon addition of the core. When the tau subunit is lacking, binding of polymerase to the primed template is less efficient and stable. The tau-less reconstituted polymerase is more prone to dissociation upon encountering secondary structures in the template in its path, such as a hairpin region in the single strand or a duplex region formed by a strand annealed to the template. With the tau subunit present, the interaction of the core.beta complex (the basic unit of a processive polymerase) with the primed template is strengthened. The tau-containing reconstituted polymerase can replicate DNA continuously through secondary structures in the template. The two distinctive kinds of processivity demonstrated by the tau-less and tau-containing reconstituted polymerases fit nicely into a scheme in which, organized as an asymmetric dimeric holoenzyme, the tau half is responsible for continuous synthesis of one strand, and the less stable half for discontinuous synthesis of the other.     

Total reconstitution of DNA polymerase III holoenzyme reveals dual accessory protein clamps

DNA polymerase III holoenzyme (holoenzyme) is the 10-subunit replicase of the Escherichia coli chromosome. In this report, pure preparations of delta, delta', and a gamma chi psi complex are resolved from the five protein gamma complex subassembly. Using these subunits and other holoenzyme subunits isolated from overproducing plasmid strains of E. coli, the rapid and highly processive holoenzyme has been reconstituted from only five pure single subunits: alpha, epsilon, gamma, delta, and beta. The preceding report showed that of the three subunits in the core polymerase, only a complex of alpha (DNA polymerase) and epsilon (3'-5' exonuclease) are required to assemble a processive holoenzyme on a template containing a preinitiation complex (Studwell, P.S., and O'Donnell, M. (1990) J. Biol. Chem. 265, 1171-1178). This report shows that of the five proteins in the gamma complex only a heterodimer of gamma and delta is required with the beta subunit to form the ATP-activated preinitiation complex with a primed template. Surprisingly, the delta' subunit does not form an active complex with gamma but forms a fully active heterodimer complex with the tau subunit (as does delta). Hence, the tau delta' and gamma delta heterodimers are fully active in the preinitiation complex reaction with beta and primed DNA. Holoenzymes reconstituted using the alpha epsilon complex, beta subunit, and either gamma delta or tau delta' are fully processive in DNA synthesis, and upon completing the template they rapidly cycle to a new primed template endowed with a preinitiation complex clamp. Since the holoenzyme molecule contains all of these accessory subunits (gamma, delta, tau, delta', and beta) in all likelihood it has the capacity to form two preinitiation complex clamps simultaneously at two primer termini. Two primer binding components within one holoenzyme may mediate its rapid cycling to multiple primers on the lagging strand and also provides functional evidence for the hypothesis of holoenzyme as a dimeric polymerase capable of simultaneous replication of both leading and lagging strands of a replication fork.     

Properties of initiation complexes formed between Escherichia coli DNA polymerase III holoenzyme and primed DNA in the absence of ATP

In the presence of ATP, the beta subunit of the Escherichia coli DNA polymerase III holoenzyme can induce a stable initiation complex with the other holoenzyme subunits and primed DNA that is capable of highly processive synthesis. We have recently demonstrated that the ATP requirement for processive synthesis can be bypassed by an excess of the beta subunit (Crute, J., LaDuca, R., Johanson, K., McHenry, C., and Bambara, R. (1983) J. Biol. Chem. 258, 11344-11349). To examine the complex formed with excess beta subunit, and the lengths of the products of processive synthesis, we have designed a uniquely primed DNA template. Poly(dA)4000 was tailed with dCTP by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase and the resulting template annealed to oligo(dG)12-18. In the presence of excess beta, the lengths of processively extended primers nearly equaled the full-length of the DNA template. Similar length synthesis occurred in the presence or absence of spermidine or single-stranded DNA-binding protein. When the beta subunit was present at normal holoenzyme stoichiometry it could induce highly processive synthesis without ATP, although inefficiently. Both ATP and excess beta increased the amount of initiation complex formation, but complexes produced with excess beta did so without the time delay observed with ATP, suggesting different mechanisms for formation. Almost 50% of initiation complexes formed without ATP survived a 30-min incubation with anti-beta IgG, reflecting a stability similar to those formed with ATP. The ability to form initiation complexes in the absence of ATP permitted the demonstration that cycling of the holoenzyme to a new primer, after chain termination with a dideoxynucleotide, is not affected by the presence of ATP.     

Prereplicative complexes of components of DNA polymerase III holoenzyme of Escherichia coli.

Stepwise reconstitution of the subunits of DNA polymerase III holoenzyme of Escherichia coli offers insights into the organization and function of this multisubunit assembly. A highly processive, holoenzyme-like activity can be generated when the gamma complex, in the presence of ATP and a primed template, activates the beta subunit to form a preinitiation complex, and this is then followed by addition of the core polymerase. Further analysis of early replicative complexes has now revealed: 1) that the gamma complex can stably bind a single-stranded DNA binding protein (SSB)-coated template, 2) that neither SSB coating of the template nor a proper primer terminus is required to form the preinitiation complex, and 3) that the gamma complex stabilizes the preinitiation complex in the presence of ATP and destabilizes it in the presence of adenosine 5'-O-(thiotriphosphate). Based on these findings, a sequence of stages can be formulated for an activation of the beta subunit that enables it to bind the template-primer and thereby interact with the core to create a processive polymerase.     

Analysis of the ATPase subassembly which initiates processive DNA synthesis by DNA polymerase III holoenzyme.

The gamma complex (gamma delta delta' chi psi) subassembly of DNA polymerase III holoenzyme transfers the beta subunit onto primed DNA in a reaction which requires ATP hydrolysis. Once on DNA, beta is a "sliding clamp" which tethers the polymerase to DNA for highly processive synthesis. We have examined beta and the gamma complex to identify which subunit(s) hydrolyzes ATP. We find the gamma complex is a DNA dependent ATPase. The beta subunit, which lacks ATPase activity, enhances the gamma complex ATPase when primed DNA is used as an effector. Hence, the gamma complex recognizes DNA and couples ATP hydrolysis to clamp beta onto primed DNA. Study of gamma complex subunits showed no single subunit contained significant ATPase activity. However, the heterodimers, gamma delta and gamma delta', were both DNA-dependent ATPases. Only the gamma delta ATPase was stimulated by beta and was functional in transferring the beta from solution to primed DNA. Similarity in ATPase activity of DNA polymerase III holoenzyme accessory proteins to accessory proteins of phage T4 DNA polymerase and mammalian DNA polymerase delta suggests the basic strategy of chromosome duplication has been conserved throughout evolution.     

Accessory proteins bind a primed template and mediate rapid cycling of DNA polymerase III holoenzyme from Escherichia coli

DNA polymerase III holoenzyme was assembled from pure proteins onto a primer template scaffold. The assembly process could be divided into two stages. In the time-consuming first stage, beta subunit and gamma.delta subunit complex were required in forming a tightly bound ATP-activated "preinitiation complex" with a single-stranded DNA bacteriophage circle uniquely primed with a synthetic pentadecadeoxyribonucleotide. This finding substantiates an earlier study using crude protein preparations in a homopolymer system lacking Escherichia coli single-stranded DNA binding protein (Wickner, S. (1976) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 73, 3511-3515). In the second stage, the polymerase III core and the tau subunit rapidly seek out and bind the preinitiation complex to form DNA polymerase III holoenzyme capable of rapid and entirely processive replication of the circular DNA. ATP is not required beyond formation of the preinitiation complex. It is remarkable that the fully assembled DNA polymerase III holoenzyme is so stably bound to the primed DNA circle (4-min half-time of dissociation), yet upon completing a round of synthesis the polymerase cycles within 10 s to a new preinitiation complex on a challenge primed DNA circle. Efficient polymerase cycling only occurred when challenge primed DNA was endowed with a preinitiation complex implying that cycling is mediated by a polymerase subassembly which dissociates from its accessory proteins and associates with a new preinitiation complex. These subunit dynamics suggest mechanisms for polymerase cycling on the lagging strand of replication forks in a growing chromosome.     

The dnaZ protein, the gamma subunit of DNA polymerase III holoenzyme of Escherichia coli

The dnaZ protein has been purified to near-homogeneity using an in vitro complementation assay that measures the restoration of activity in a crude enzyme fraction from the dnaZ mutant deficient in the replication of phi X174 DNA. Over 70-fold overproduction of the protein was obtained with a bacteriophage lambda lysogen carrying the dnaZ gene. The purified protein, under reducing and denaturing conditions, has a molecular weight of 52,000 and appears to be a dimer in its native form. The dnaZ protein is judged to be th 52,000-dalton gamma subunit of DNA polymerase III holoenzyme (McHenry, C., and Kornberg, A. (1977) J. Biol. Chem. 252, 6478-6484) for the following reasons: (i) highly purified DNA polymerase III holoenzyme contains a 52,000-dalton polypeptide and has dnaZ-complementing activity; (ii) the 52,000-dalton polypeptide is associated tightly with the DNA polymerase III holoenzyme and can be separated from the DNA polymerase III core only with severe measures; (iii) no other purified replication protein, among 14 tested, contains dnaZ protein activity; and (iv) the abundance of dnaZ protein, estimated at about 10 dimer molecules per Escherichia coli cell, is similar to that of the DNA polymerase III core. Among several circular templates tested in vitro (i.e. single stranded phi X174, G4 and M13 DNAs, and duplex phi X174 DNA), all rely on dnaZ protein for elongation by DNA polymerase III holoenzyme. The protein acts catalytically at a stoichiometry of one dimer per template.     

The DNA polymerase-primase from drosophila melanogaster embryos. Rate and fidelity of polymerization on single-stranded DNA templates

The DNA polymerase activity of the near homogeneous, multisubunit DNA polymerase-primase from Drosophila melanogaster embryos has been compared to Escherichia coli DNA polymerase III core, DNA polymerase III, and DNA polymerase III holoenzyme. The rate of deoxynucleotide incorporation by the Drosophila polymerase on singly primed phi X174 DNA is similar to that observed with equivalent levels of DNA polymerase III holoenzyme in the absence of E. coli single-stranded DNA binding protein. However, analysis of the DNA products indicates that the Drosophila polymerase is less processive than DNA polymerase III holoenzyme, and closely resembles DNA polymerase III. The Drosophila polymerase-primase contains neither 3'-5' exonuclease nor RNase H-like activities, and catalyzes no significant pyrophosphate exchange. There is a low level of DNA-dependent ATPase activity which can be eliminated by a second glycerol gradient sedimentation (Kaguni, L.S., Rossignol, J.-M., Conaway, R.C., and Lehman, I.R. (1983) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 80, 2221-2225). Although lacking a 3'-5' exonuclease, the replication fidelity of the D. melanogaster polymerase is similar to that of E. coli DNA polymerase III holoenzyme which possesses such an activity.     

DNA polymerase III of Escherichia coli. Purification and identification of subunits.

DNA polymerase III, the core of the DNA polymerase III holoenzyme, has been purified 28,000-fold to 97% homogeneity from Escherichia coli HMS-83. The enzyme contains subunits: alpha, epsilon, and theta of 140,000, 25,000, and 10,000 daltons, respectively. The alpha subunit has been previously shown to be a component of both DNA polymerase III and the more complex DNA polymerase III holoenzyme (Livingston, D.M., Hinkle, D., and Richardson, C. (1975) J. Biol. Chem. 250, 461-469; McHenry, C., and Kornberg, A. (1977) J. Biol. Chem. 252, 6478-6484). It is demonstrated here that the epsilon and theta subunits are also subunits of the DNA polymerase III holoenzyme. Thus, the DNA polymerase III holoenzyme contains at least six different subunits. Our preparation has both the 3' leads to 5' and 5' leads to 3' exonuclease activities previously assigned to DNA polymerase III (Livingston, D., and Richardson, C. (1975) J. Biol. Chem. 250, 470-478).     

Fluorescence energy transfer between the primer and the beta subunit of the DNA polymerase III holoenzyme.

We report here our initial success in using fluorescence energy transfer to map the position of the subunits of the DNA polymerase III holoenzyme within initiation complexes formed on primed DNA. Using primers containing a fluorescent derivative 3 nucleotides from the 3'-terminus and acceptors of fluorescence energy transfer located on Cys333 of the beta subunit, a donor-acceptor distance of 65 A was measured. Coupling this distance with other information enabled us to propose a model for the positioning of beta within initiation complexes. Examination of the fluorescence properties of a labeled primer with the unlabeled beta subunit and other assemblies of DNA polymerase III holoenzyme subunits allowed us to distinguish all of the known intermediates of the holoenzyme-catalyzed reaction. Specific fluorescence changes could be assigned for primer annealing, Escherichia coli single-stranded DNA-binding protein binding, 3'----5' exonucleolytic hydrolysis of the primer, DNA polymerase III* binding, initiation complex formation upon the addition of beta in the presence of ATP, and DNA elongation. These fluorescence changes are sufficiently large to support future detailed kinetic studies. Particularly interesting was the difference in fluorescence changes accompanying initiation complex formation as compared to binding of DNA polymerase III holoenzyme subunit assemblies. Initiation complex formation resulted in a strong fluorescence enhancement. Binding of DNA polymerase III* led to a fluorescence quenching, and transfer of beta to primed DNA by the gamma delta complex did not change the fluorescence. This demonstrates a rearrangement of subunits accompanying initiation complex formation. Monitoring fluorescence changes with labeled beta, we have determined that beta binds with a stoichiometry of one monomer/primer terminus.     

DNA Polymerase III holoenzyme of Escherichia coli. IV. The holoenzyme is an asymmetric dimer with twin active sites

Pol III, a subassembly of Escherichia coli DNA polymerase III holoenzyme lacking only the auxiliary beta subunit, was purified to homogeneity by an improved procedure. This assembly consists of nine different polypeptides, likely in a 1:1 stoichiometry: a catalytic core (pol III) of alpha (132 kDa), epsilon (27 kDa), and theta (10 kDa), and six auxiliary subunits: tau (71 kDa), gamma (52 kDa), delta (35 kDa), delta' (33 kDa), chi (15 kDa), and psi (12 kDa). The assembly behaves on gel filtration as a particle of about 800 kDa, indicating a content of two each of the subunits. A new procedure for purifying the core yielded a novel dimeric form which may provide the foundation for the dimeric nature of the more complex pol III and holoenzyme forms. Pol III readily dissociates into several subassemblies including pol III', likely a dimeric core with two tau subunits. The holoenzyme, purified by a similar procedure with ATP and Mg2+ present throughout, retained the beta subunit (37 kDa) as well as all the subunits present in pol III; the mass of the holoenzyme was estimated to be 900 kDa. The isolated initiation complex of holoenzyme with a primed template DNA and the elongation complex (formed in the presence of three deoxynucleoside triphosphates) had the same composition and stoichiometry as observed for pol III with two beta dimers in addition. An initiation complex assembled from a mixture of monomeric pol III core, gamma 2 delta delta' chi psi complex (gamma complex), beta, and tau retained the core, one beta dimer, and two tau subunits but was deficient in the gamma complex. When tau was omitted from the assembly mixture, the initiation complex contained one or two gamma complexes instead of the tau subunit. Based on these data, pol III holoenzyme is judged to be an asymmetric dimeric particle with twin pol III core active sites and two different sets of auxiliary units designed to achieve essentially concurrent replication of both leading and lagging strand templates.     

Purification and characterization of an inducible Escherichia coli DNA polymerase capable of insertion and bypass at abasic lesions in DNA

We have investigated the ability of DNA polymerases from SOS-induced and uninduced Escherichia coli to incorporate nucleotides at a well-defined abasic (apurinic/apyrimidinic) DNA template site and to extend these chains from this unpaired 3' terminus. A DNA polymerase activity has been purified from E. coli, deleted for DNA polymerase I, that appears to be induced 7-fold in cells following treatment with nalidixic acid. Induction of this polymerase (designated DNA polymerase X) appears to be part of the SOS response of E. coli since it cannot be induced in strains containing a noncleavable form of the LexA repressor (Ind-). The enzyme is able to incorporate nucleotides efficiently opposite the abasic template lesion and to continue DNA synthesis. Although we observe an approximate 2-fold induction of DNA polymerase III in cells treated with nalidixic acid, several lines of evidence argue that DNA polymerase X is unrelated to DNA polymerase III (pol III). In contrast to pol X, pol III shows almost no detectable ability to incorporate at or extend beyond the abasic site; incorporation efficiency at the abasic lesion is at least 100-fold larger for pol X compared to pol III holoenzyme, pol III core, or pol III* (the polymerase III holoenzyme subassembly lacking the beta subunit). Pol X does not cross-react with polyclonal antibody directed against pol III holoenzyme complex or with monoclonal antibody prepared to the alpha subunit of pol III. Despite these structural and biochemical differences, pol X appears to interact specifically with the beta subunit of the pol III holoenzyme in the presence of single-stranded binding protein. Pol X has a molecular mass of 84 kDa. Our results indicate that this novel activity is likely to be identical to DNA polymerase II of E. coli.     

Analysis of unassisted translesion replication by the DNA polymerase III holoenzyme

DNA damage-induced mutations are formed when damaged nucleotides present in single-stranded DNA are replicated. We have developed a new method for the preparation of gapped plasmids containing site-specific damaged nucleotides, as model DNA substrates for translesion replication. Using these substrates, we show that the DNA polymerase III holoenzyme from Escherichia coli can bypass a synthetic abasic site analogue with high efficiency (30% bypass in 16 min), unassisted by other proteins. The theta and tau subunits of the polymerase were not essential for bypass. No bypass was observed when the enzyme was assayed on a synthetic 60-mer oligonucleotide carrying the same lesion, and bypass on a linear gapped plasmid was 3-4-fold slower than on a circular gapped plasmid. There was no difference in the bypass when standing-start and running-start replication were compared. A comparison of translesion replication by DNA polymerase I, DNA polymerase II, the DNA polymerase III core, and the DNA polymerase III holoenzyme clearly showed that the DNA polymerase III holoenzyme was by far the most effective in performing translesion replication. This was not only due to the high processivity of the pol III holoenzyme, because increasing the processivity of pol II by adding the gamma complex and beta subunit, did not increase bypass. These results support the model that SOS regulation was imposed on a fundamentally constitutive translesion replication reaction to achieve tight control of mutagenesis.     

Reconstitution of a minimal DNA replicase from Pseudomonas aeruginosa and stimulation by non-cognate auxiliary factors

DNA polymerase III holoenzyme is responsible for chromosomal replication in bacteria. The components and functions of Escherichia coli DNA polymerase III holoenzyme have been studied extensively. Here, we report the reconstitution of replicase activity by essential components of DNA polymerase holoenzyme from the pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa. We have expressed and purified the processivity factor (beta), single-stranded DNA-binding protein, a complex containing the polymerase (alpha) and exonuclease (epsilon) subunits, and the essential components of the DnaX complex (tau(3)deltadelta'). Efficient primer elongation requires the presence of alphaepsilon, beta, and tau(3)deltadelta'. Pseudomonas aeruginosa alphaepsilon can substitute completely for E. coli polymerase III in E. coli holoenzyme reconstitution assays. Pseudomonas beta and tau(3)deltadelta' exhibit a 10-fold lower activity relative to their E. coli counterparts in E. coli holoenzyme reconstitution assays. Although the Pseudomonas counterpart to the E. coli psi subunit was not apparent in sequence similarity searches, addition of purified E. coli chi and psi (components of the DnaX complex) increases the apparent specific activity of the Pseudomonas tau(3)deltadelta' complex approximately 10-fold and enables the reconstituted enzyme to function better under physiological salt conditions.     

The beta subunit modulates bypass and termination at UV lesions during in vitro replication with DNA polymerase III holoenzyme of Escherichia coli

The cycling time of DNA polymerase III holoenzyme during replication of UV-irradiated single-stranded (ss) DNA was longer than with unirradiated DNA (8 versus 3 min, respectively), most likely due to slow dissociation from lesion-terminated nascent DNA strands. Initiation of elongation on primed ssDNA was not significantly inhibited by the presence of UV lesions as indicated by the identical distribution of replication products synthesized at early and late reaction times and by the identical duration of the initial synthesis bursts on both unirradiated and UV-irradiated DNA templates. When replication was performed with DNA polymerase III* supplemented with increasing quantities of purified beta 2 subunit, the cycling time on UV-irradiated DNA decreased from 14.8 min at 1.7 nM beta 2 down to 6 min at 170 nM beta 2, a concentration in which beta 2 was in large excess over the polymerase. In parallel to the reduction in cycling time, also the bypass frequency of cyclobutane-photodimers decreased with increasing beta 2 concentration, and at 170 nM beta 2, bypass of photodimers was essentially eliminated. It has been shown that polymerase complexes with more than one beta 2 per polymerase molecule were formed at high beta 2 concentrations (Lasken, R. S., and Kornberg, A. (1987) J. Biol. Chem. 262, 1720-1724). It is plausible that polymerase complexes obtained under high beta 2 concentration dissociate from lesion-terminated primers faster than polymerase complexes formed at a low beta 2 concentration. This is expected to favor termination over bypass at pyrimidine photodimers and thus decrease their bypass frequency. These results suggest that the beta 2 subunit might act as a sensor for obstacles to replication caused by DNA damage, and that it terminates elongation at these sites by promoting dissociation. The intracellular concentration of beta 2 was estimated to be 250 nM (Kwon-Shin, O., Bodner, J. B., McHenry, C. S., and Bambara, R. A. (1987) J. Biol. Chem. 262, 2121-2130) and is 15-fold higher than the estimated intracellular concentration of DNA polymerase III holoenzyme (15 nM). This high concentration of beta 2 may be responsible for the observation that very little (if any) bypass of pyrimidine photodimers occurred in vivo when the SOS system was not induced. Moreover, it predicts that bypass synthesis under SOS conditions might be associated with an altered form of the beta subunit.     

Proofreading activity of DNA polymerase III responds like elongation activity to auxiliary subunits

A comparison of the 3'----5' proofreading properties between Escherichia coli DNA polymerase III holoenzyme and DNA polymerase III' was conducted. This study indicated that the influence of the holoenzyme auxiliary subunits on the proofreading exonuclease parallels their effect on the elongation reaction. At physiological ionic strengths the auxiliary subunits markedly stimulated the exonuclease rate in an ATP-dependent reaction, while the exonuclease rate of DNA polymerase III' was not affected by ATP. E. coli single-stranded DNA binding protein stimulated the 3'----5' exonuclease activity of holoenzyme and inhibited DNA polymerase III'. Similarly, the auxiliary subunits and ATP converted the proofreading activity to a highly processive exonuclease. Our observation, that the exonuclease activity of the DNA polymerase III holoenzyme responded to ATP, salt, and E. coli single-stranded DNA-binding protein like the elongation activity, is consistent with the polymerase and exonuclease subunits acting within the same complex in a coordinated reaction.     

ATP activation of DNA polymerase III holoenzyme from Escherichia coli. II. Initiation complex: stoichiometry and reactivity

DNA polymerase III holoenzyme (holenzyme) has an ATPase activity elicited only by a primed DNA template. Reaction of preformed ATP.holoenzyme complex with a primed template results in hydrolysis of the ATP bound to the holoenzyme, release of ADP and Pi, and formation of an initiation complex between holoenzyme and the primed template. Approximately two ATP molecules are hydrolyzed for each initiation complex formed, a value in keeping with the number bound in the ATP.holoenzyme complex. The possibility that the latter and the initiation complex contain two holoenzyme molecules is supported by the presence of two beta monomers in the initiation complex. Holoenzyme action in the absence of ATP resembles that of pol III (the holoenzyme core) or DNA polymerase III (holoenzyme lacking the beta subunit), with or without ATP, in sensitivity to salt and in processivity of elongation. The initiation complex formed by ATP-activated holoenzyme resists a level of KCl (150 mM) that completely inhibits nonactivated holoenzyme and the incomplete forms of the holoenzyme, and displays a processivity at least 20 times greater. Upon completing replication of available template, holoenzyme can dissociate and form an initiation complex with another primed template, provided ATP is available to reactivate the holoenzyme. By inference, no essential subunits are lost in the cycle of initiation, elongation and dissociation.