The Synthesis of a Deoxyribonucleic Acid Polymer of Alternating Base Sequence from a Deoxyribonucleic Acid-Ribonucleic Acid Hybrid Template

Abstract

Abstract The deoxyribonucleic acid polymerase from Escherichia coli has been found capable of using as a template a deoxyribonucleic acid-ribonucleic acid hybrid polymer which has alternating thymine and hypoxanthine residues on the deoxyribose strand and alternating adenine and cytosine residues on the ribose strand. The DNA polymer prepared from this hybrid template has properties similar to those of a double stranded DNA polymer with alternating thymine and guanine residues on one strand and alternating adenine and cytosine residues on the other strand. The DNA-RNA hybrid polymer was prepared by the action of the E. coli RNA polymerase on a single stranded DNA polymer obtained by deamination of the previously studied DNA polymer with alternating adenine and thymine residues. The priming ability of the DNA-RNA hybrid polymer was similar to that of the DNA polymer which was prepared from the hybrid template.