Gene cloning,purification, and characterization of recombinant DNA ligases of the thermophilic archaea <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pyrococcus abyssi</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum</Emphasis>

DNA ligase genes of the thermophilic archaeae Pyrococcus abyssi (Pab DNA ligase) and Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum (Mth DNA ligase) were cloned in Escherichia coli. The resulting recombinant enzymes were tested for activity in a ligation mixture with two oligonucleotides, one containing a preformed hairpin structure. The yield of the reaction products was maximal at temperatures close to 70°C for either enzyme; their accumulation reached a plateau at 70–75% of the theoretical yield at a stoichiometric enzyme-to-substrate ratio. The enzymes differed in thermal stability. The half-life of Pab DNA ligase was approximately 60 min at 90°C. Mth DNA ligase was completely inactivated within 10 min at this temperature. The recombinant DNA ligases from P. abyssi and M. thermoautotrophicum remained stabile during long-term storage at 4°C.     

Characterization of Recombinant Endonuclease IV from Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Molecular Biology - Mycobacterium tuberculosis cells contain two apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) endonucleases, endonuclease IV (MtbEnd) and exonuclease III (MtbXthA), the former playing a dominant role...     

Population specific analysis of Yakut exomes

We studied the genetic diversity of the Yakut population using exome sequencing. We performed comparative analysis of the Yakut population and the populations that are included in the “1000 Genomes” project and we identified the alleles specific to the Yakut population. We showed, that the Yakuts population is a separate cluster between Europeans and East Asians.