Binding and phasing of Escherichia coli single-stranded DNA-binding protein by the secondary structure of phage G4 origin of complementary DNA strand synthesis (G4oric).

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The origin of phage G4 DNA complementary strand synthesis (G4oric) consists of three stem-loop structures (stem loops I, II, and III) that have been proposed as a recognition site for primase during primer RNA (pRNA) synthesis (Godson, G. N., Barrell, B. G., Staden, R., and Fiddes, J. C. (1978) Nat. New Biol. 276, 236-247; Fiddes, J. C., Barrell, B. G., and Godson, G. N. (1978) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 75, 1081-1085; Sims, J., Capon, D., and Dressler, D. (1979) J. Biol. Chem. 254, 12615-12628). It is generally considered that the double-stranded DNA stem-loop structure is not coated with Escherichia coli single-stranded DNA-binding protein (SSB), but is recognized by primase as naked DNA (Kornberg, A., and Baker, J. (1992) DNA Replication, 2nd Ed., p. 280, W. H. Freeman & Co., New York). Using small G4oric single-stranded DNA fragments of various sizes (302, 278, 149, and 100 nucleotides) consisting of the core 100-nucleotide stem-loop region plus differing lengths of 3'- and 5'-flanking sequence as substrates for gel retardation and DNase I and micrococcal nuclease digestion, we show that under conditions of pRNA synthesis, two SSB tetramers bind to the stem-loop structure. With increasing lengths of 5'- and 3'-flanking sequence, more SSB tetramers are added. Regardless of the number of SSB tetramers bound, however, the region of DNA containing the pRNA initiation site is always left accessible to nuclease digestion. In situ copper-phenanthroline footprinting of individual gel shift assembly intermediates shows that on the 302-nucleotide G4oric, the first two SSB tetramers assemble at random, but the addition of more SSB tetramers results in formation of a unique structure. In this structure, SSB tetramers protect both sides of stem loop III plus the intervening region between stem loops III and I, but leave most of stem loop I and the CTG pRNA initiation site accessible to copper-phenanthroline. Primase can only synthesize pRNA when the stem-loop structure is saturated with SSB and presumably in the unique configuration. The G4oric stem-loop structure therefore appears to dictate the phasing of SSB to leave a primase recognition site as free DNA.