Role of deoxyribonucleic acid polymerases and deoxyribonucleic acid ligase in x-ray-induced repair synthesis in toluene-treated Escherichia coli K-12.

The biosynthesis of ribosomal ribonucleic acid (rRNA) In wild-type Neurospora crassa growing at 25 degrees C was investigated by continuous-labeling and pulsechase experiments using [5-3H]uridine. The results of these experiments suggest the following precursor-product relationships: the first RNA molecule to be synthesized in significant quantities is the 2.4 X 10(6)-dalton (2.4-Mdal) ribosomal precursor RNA. This RNA is cleaved to produce two species of RNA with weights of 0.7 and 1.4-Mdal. The former is the mature 17S rRNA of the 37S ribosomal subunit. The 1.4-Mdal RNA is subsequently cleaved to produce the mature 1.27-Mdal (25S) and 61,000-dalton (5.8S) rRNA's of the 60S ribosomal subunit. In the maturation process, approximately 15 to 20% of the 2.4-Mdal ribosomal precursor rRNA molecule is lost. As in other eukaryotes that have been examined, 5S rRNA is not derived from this precursor molecule.     

DNA polymerase I-mediated ultraviolet repair synthesis in toluene-treated Escherichia coli.

DNA synthesis after ultraviolet irradiation is low in wild type toluene-treated cells. The level of repair incorporation is greater in strains deficient in DNA polymerase I. The low level of repair synthesis is attributable to the concerted action of DNA polymerase I and polynucleotide ligase. Repair synthesis is stimulated by blocking ligase activity with the addition of nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN) or the use of a ligase temperature-sensitive mutant. NMN stimulation is specific for DNA polymerase I-mediated repair synthesis, as it is absent in isogenic strains deficient in the polymerase function or the 5' leads to 3' exonuclease function associated with DNA polymerase I. DNA synthesis that is stimulated by NMN is proportional to the ultraviolet exposure at low doses, nonconservative in nature, and is dependent on the uvrA gene product but is independent of the recA gene product. These criteria place this synthesis in the excision repair pathway. The NMN-stimulated repair synthesis requires ATP and is N-ethylmaleimide-resistant. The use of NMN provides a direct means for evaluating the involvement of DNA polymerase I in excision repair.     

Enhancement of deoxyribonucleic acid polymerase I-directed repair synthesis in toluene-treated Escherichia coli after growth in the presence of low levels of N-methyl-N''-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine.

Deoxyribonucleic acid polymerase I-directed repair synthesis can be selectively measured in toluene-treated Escherichia coli cells exposed to alkylating chemicals such as N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine. Prior growth of the cells in the presence of a low dose of N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine results in an enhanced deoxyribonucleic acid polymerase I-directed repair synthesis and an increase in single-strand breaks.     

DNA polymerase III-dependent repair synthesis in response to bleomycin in toluene-treated Escherichia coli

Summary Bleomycin (BLM) is an antitumor drug which interacts with and damages DNA. We have reported a repair response dependent on DNA polymerase I in toluene-treated Escherichia coli. We report here that DNA polymerase III can also catalyze a repair response in toluene-treated E. coli following exposure to BLM. Polymerase III-mediated synthesis differs because it is ATP-dependent, whereas polymerase I-mediated repair synthesis is not. Polymerase III repair synthesis is independent of replicative synthesis, as demonstrated in a polA ^-, dnaB _ts strain, or use of Novobiocin to inhibit replication, and replication persists in the presence of repair synthesis. It appears that ATP-dependent repair synthesis in response to BLM is also present in polA ⁺ strains. Repair synthesis does not require the uvrA gene product.This research was supported by Public Health Service grants GM-19122 and GM-24711 from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, Robert A. Welch Foundation grant Q-543 and American Cancer Society BC-290     

Role of deoxyribonucleic acid polymerase III in the repair of single-strand breaks produced in Escherichia coli deoxyribonucleic acid by gamma radiation.

Cell survival, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) degradation, and the repair of DNA single-strand breaks were measured for Escherichia coli K-12 pol+, polA1, polC1026(ts), and polA1 polC1026(ts) cells after 137Cs gamma irradiation. The results indicate that DNA polymerase III is required for growth medium-dependent (type III) repair in polA+ or polA cells. In pol+ or polC cells, DNA polymerase I performs type II repair efficiently. The relative deficiencies of each of these strains in DNA repair generally correlate with their relative sensitivities to cell killing and with the extent of DNA degradation observed.     

Involvement of deoxyribonucleic acid polymerase beta in nuclear deoxyribonucleic acid synthesis.

The effects on DNA synthesis in vitro in mouse L929-cell nuclei of differential extraction of DNA polymerases alpha and beta were studied. Removal of all measurable DNA polymerase alpha and 20% of DNA polymerase beta leads to a 40% fall in the replicative DNA synthesis. Removal of 70% of DNA polymerase beta inhibits replicative synthesis by 80%. In all cases the nuclear DNA synthesis is sensitive to N-ethylmaleimide and aCTP (arabinosylcytosine triphosphate), though less so than DNA polymerase alpha. Addition of deoxyribonuclease I to the nuclear incubation leads to synthesis of high-molecular-weight DNA in a repair reaction. This occurs equally in nuclei from non-growing or S-phase cells. The former nuclei lack DNA polymerase alpha and the reaction reflects the sensitivity of DNA polymerase beta to inhibiton by N-ethylmaleimide and aCTP.     

Conditional-lethal deoxyribonucleic acid ligase mutant of Escherichia coli.

A new Escherichia coli deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) ligase mutant has been identified among a collection of temperature-sensitive DNA replication mutants isolated recently (Sevastopoulos, Wehr, and Glaser, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 74:3485-3489, 1977). At the nonpermissive temperature DNA synthesis in the mutant stops rapidly, the DNA is degraded to acid-soluble material, and cell death ensures. This suggests that the mutant may be among the most ligase-deficient strains yet characterized.     

Short deoxyribonucleic acid repair patch length in Escherichia coli is determined by the processive mechanism of deoxyribonucleic acid polymerase I.

The lengths of ultraviolet irradiation-induced repair resynthesis patches were measured in repair-competent extracts of Escherichia coli. Extracts containing wild-type deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) polymerase I introduced a patch 15 to 20 nucleotides in length during repair of ColE1 plasmid DNA; extracts containing the polA5 mutant form of DNA polymerase I introduced a patch only about 5 nucleotides in length in a similar reaction. The repair patch length in the presence of either DNA polymerase corresponded to the processivity of that polymerase (the average number of nucleotides added per enzyme-DNA binding event) as determined with purified enzymes and DNA treated with a nonspecific endonuclease. The base composition of the repair patch inserted by the wild-type DNA polymerase was similar to that of the bacterial genome, whereas the patch inserted by the mutant enzyme was skewed toward greater pyrimidine incorporation. This skewing is expected, considering the predominance of pyrimidine incorporation occurring at the ultraviolet lesion and the short patch made by the mutant enzyme. Since the defect in the polA5 DNA polymerase which causes premature dissociation from DNA is reflected exactly in the repair patch length, the processive mechanism of the polymerase must be a central determinant of patch length.     

Conditional-lethal deoxyribonucleic acid polymerase I mutant of Escherichia coli.

A new deoxyribonucleic acid polymerase I mutant of Escherichia coli was isolated among conditional lethal mutants. Deoxyribonucleic acid replication in the mutant ceased in 20 min after the temperature was raised to 43 degrees C, and reinitiated when cells were further incubated at this temperature.