Phi X174 Replicative Form DNA Research Articles

Solid-phase synthesis and side reactions of oligonucleotides containing O-alkylthymine residues.

As part of our studies on the molecular mechanism of mutation [Chambers, R. W. (1982) in Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms of Mutagenesis (Lemontt, J. F., & Generoso, W. M., Eds.) pp 121-145, Plenum, New York and London], we wanted to prepare specific oligonucleotides carrying O2- or O4-alkylthymidine residues. Since O-alkylthymine moieties are known to be alkali labile, side reactions were expected during the deprotection procedures used for synthesis of oligonucleotides on a solid support by the classical phosphoramidite method. We have studied these side reactions in detail. Kinetic data show the deprotection procedures displace most O-alkyl groups at rates that make these procedures inappropriate for synthesis of most oligonucleotides carrying O-alkylthymine moieties. We describe alternative deprotection procedures, using readily accessible reagents, that we have used successfully to synthesize a series of oligonucleotides carrying several different O-alkylthymine moieties. The oligonucleotides synthesized are d(A-A-A-A-G-T-alkT-T-A-A-A-A-C-A-T), where alk = O2-methyl, O2-isopropyl, O4-methyl, O4-isopropyl, and O4-n-butyl. This work extends the previously described procedure for the chemical synthesis of oligonucleotides carrying an O4-methylthymine moiety [Li, B. F., Reese, C. B., & Swann, P. F. (1987) Biochemistry 26, 1086-1093] and reports the first chemical synthesis of an oligonucleotide carrying an O2-alkylthymine. The oligonucleotides synthesized have a sequence corresponding to the minus strand that is complementary to the viral strand at the start of gene G in bacteriophage phi X174 replicative form DNA where the normal third codon has been replaced with the ocher codon, TAA.

Effects of palindromes on in vivo DNA replication and mutagenesis in bacteriophage phi X174 RF DNA.

Bacteriophage phi X174 mutants with insertions of palindromic DNA sequences are rapidly outgrown by competing wild-type phage (Müller & Turnage, J. Mol. Biol. 189: 285). The basis for this defect was investigated and found to be due to an exclusion event early in the infectious cycle, in which phage genomes with palindromic inserts were preferentially excluded by wt phage. In addition, we have obtained further evidence for a palindrome induced genetic instability. Both defects are dependent on palindrome size and sequence, consistent with a model which involves formation of cruciforms, or cruciform-like structures. We propose that formation of unusual DNA secondary structures reduces the effectiveness of replicative form (RF) DNA to interact with limiting replication factors or membrane binding sites, possibly because of interaction with the host recombination system.

The effect of supercoil and temperature on the recognition of palindromic and non-palindromic regions in phi X174 replicative form DNA by S1 and Bal31.

The effect of supercoil and temperature on the topology of phi X174 replicative form (RF) DNA was studied using single-strand specific endonucleases S1 and Bal31 as probes for cruciform extrusion and other structural perturbations of the B-helix. Both enzymes were found to recognize specifically and reproducibly over 30 sites, most of which were cleaved by both enzymes independent of the superhelicity of the genome. A negative superhelical density exceeding 0.06 stabilized a transition in the DNA conformation that generated several new cleavage sites for Bal31. The underlying structures appeared to be only transiently stable and were lost from in vitro supercoiled DNA during brief incubation at 65 degrees C. They were generally absent from in vivo supercoiled RF DNA of equal superhelicity as a consequence of the extraction and storage procedure. Mapping of the cleavage sites suggested that they were preferentially located near the beginnings and ends of genes and that the structural basis for at least some of them was the extrusion of relatively small palindromes into the cruciform state. Insertion of a short synthetic palindromic sequence into the phi X174 genome generated a supercoil-dependent, temperature-sensitive secondary structure that was cleaved in the Bal31 but not the S1 reaction, further supporting the hypothesis that even small cruciforms with stem size of 7 or less base pairs may be transiently stable. Subjecting supercoiled RF DNA to the typical S1 reaction conditions induced a topological shift that diminished all but one of the supercoil-induced Bal31 recognition sites and promoted the formation of one major new site.

The in vivo mutagenic frequency and specificity of O6-methylguanine in phi X174 replicative form DNA.

A bacteriophage phi X174-based site-specific mutagenesis system for the study of the in vivo mutagenic frequency and specificity of carcinogen-induced modification in DNA is presented. A (-)-strand primer containing O6-methylguanine in a specific site was hybridized to a single-stranded region in gene G of phi X gapped duplex DNA. The hybrid was enzymatically converted to replicative form DNA and was used to transform Escherichia coli cells. All gene G mutants generated by the modification were rescued by genetic complementation. An amber mutation in lysis gene E of the (+) strand of the replicative form DNA prevented lytic growth of wild-type phage derived from this strand. In each mutant-containing infective center produced from the transformed cells, gene G mutant phage were present in a 3:1 ratio compared to wild type. Thus, in vivo, O6-methylguanine in replicating phi X DNA has a mutagenic frequency of 75%. When repair of O6 methylguanine occurred, it was prereplicative. The mutations were due exclusively to the misincorporation of thymine.

The complete 30-base-pair origin region of bacteriophage phi X174 in a plasmid is both required and sufficient for in vivo rolling-circle DNA replication and packaging.

The origin of replication of the isometric single-stranded DNA bacteriophages is located in a specific sequence of 30 nucleotides, the origin region, which is highly conserved in these phage genomes. Plasmids harboring this origin region are subject to rolling-circle DNA replication and packaging of single-stranded (ss) plasmid DNA into phage coats in phi X174 or G4-phage-infected cells. This system was used to study the nucleotide sequence requirements for rolling-circle DNA replication and DNA packaging employing plasmids which contain the first 24, 25, 26, 27, 28 and the complete 30-base-pair (bp) origin region of phi X174. No difference in plasmid ss DNA packaging was observed for plasmids carrying only the 30-bp origin region and plasmids carrying the 30-bp origin region plus surrounding sequences (i.e. plasmids carrying the HaeIII restriction fragment Z6B of phi X174 replicative-form DNA). This indicates that all signals for DNA replication and phage morphogenesis are contained in the 30-bp origin region and that no contribution is made by sequences which immediately surround the origin region in the phi X174 genome. The efficiency of packaging of plasmid ssDNA for plasmids containing deletions in the right part of the origin region decreases drastically when compared with the plasmid containing the complete 30-bp origin region (for a plasmid carrying the first 28 bp of the origin region to approximately 5% and 0.5% in the phi X174 and G4 systems respectively). Previous studies [Fluit, A.C., Baas, P.D., van Boom, J.H., Veeneman, G.H. and Jansz, H.S. (1984) Nucleic Acids Res. 12, 6443--6454] have shown that the presence of the first 27 bp of the origin region is necessary as well as sufficient for cleavage of the viral strand in the origin region by phi X174 gene A protein. Moreover, Brown et al. [Brown, D.R., Schmidt-Glenewinkel, T., Reinberg, D. and Hurwitz, J. (1983) J. Biol. Chem. 258, 8402--8412] have shown that omission of the last 2 bp of the origin region does not interfere with phi X174 rolling-circle DNA replication in vitro. Our results therefore suggest that for optimal phage development in vivo, signals in the origin region are utilized which have not yet been noticed by the in vitro systems for phi X174 phage DNA replication and morphogenesis.

By-pass of the major aminofluorene-DNA adduct during in vivo replication of single- and double-stranded phi X174 DNA treated with N-hydroxy-2-aminofluorene.

To examine the effects of aminofluorene-DNA adduct formation on the biological activity of DNA, single-stranded (ss) phi X174 DNA and phi X174 replicative form (RF) DNA were modified to different extents with 3H-labeled N-hydroxy-2-aminofluorene and subsequently transfected to Escherichia coli spheroplasts with different repair capabilities. When the fraction of active ss phi X174 DNA molecules was measured as a function of the mean number of adducts per molecule, exponential survival curves were obtained from which it could be deduced that in wild-type, uvrA- and recA- cells at least 86%, and in uvrC- cells at least 82% of the introduced adducts do not cause inactivation. In the case of RF DNA the survival curves are non-exponential, but they nevertheless show that an exceptionally high number of adducts per RF molecule must be introduced to destroy its biological activity. On average 52 adducts per RF molecule were needed to reduce the survival to 37%, irrespective of whether wild-type, uvrA- or recA- cells were used. On the other hand, the survival of the uvrC- cells was considerably lower, but even in these cells a majority of the adducts is not lethal. By h.p.l.c. analysis of the modified DNA after hydrolysis with trifluoroacetic acid, 81 and 84% of the adducts in ss- and RF DNA, respectively, could be identified as N-(guanin-8-yl)-2-aminofluorene. The results strongly indicate that this type of major modification product is very frequently by-passed during replication of both single- and double-stranded DNA. The results together with the data obtained by sucrose gradient analysis both before and after an alkali treatment and those obtained by h.p.l.c. analysis suggest that inactivation of ssDNA is mainly due to minor modifications such as secondary lesions consisting of chain breaks and alkali-labile sites together with unidentified interaction products.

On the nucleotide sequence recognized by a eukaryotic site-specific endonuclease, Endo.SceI from yeast.

Endo.SceI which is isolated from cells of Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a eukaryotic site-specific endonuclease active on double-stranded DNA. At each cleavage site, Endo.SceI cuts only a defined phosphodiester bond in each strand of the double helix. We compared nucleotide sequences around five cleavage sites for Endo.SceI using a computer. We could not find any common specific sequence consisting of five base pairs or more among them. However, we found a 26-base pair consensus sequence which included 15 conserved nucleotides, allowing any of the five sequences to include a few nucleotides deviated from the consensus sequence. The consensus sequence is 5'-CAn*PYnnAnnCYYGTTnnnPnYnnYA-3', where P, Y, n, and * denote purine, pyrimidine, any nucleotide, and the center of the cleavage site, respectively. The numbers of sites at which the consensus sequence appears in pBR322 DNA, phi X174 replicative form DNA, fd replicative form DNA, or SV40 DNA are close to those of the cleavage sites for Endo.SceI. We found that a 33-base pair fragment was efficiently cut at the defined phosphodiester bonds by Endo.SceI. This 33-base pair fragment included 25 base pairs out of the 26-base pair consensus sequence. The fragments in which a part of the consensus sequence was missing were not cut by Endo.SceI. These observations suggest that the consensus sequence described above is the major characteristic around the cleavage sites recognized by Endo.SceI and that the mode of recognition of cleavage sites by Endo.SceI is different from that by restriction endonucleases. We found homology between the consensus sequence for Endo.SceI and the sequences around the cleavage sites for two other site-specific endonucleases of S. cerevisiae: Endo.SceII and YZ-Endo which is involved in mating type switching.

Selective cloning of a DNA single-strand initiation determinant from phi X174 replicative-form DNA.

An M13 phage deletion mutant, M13 delta E101, developed as a vector for selecting DNA sequences that direct DNA strand initiation on a single-stranded template, has been used for cloning restriction enzyme digests of phi X174 replicative-form DNA. Initiation determinants, detected on the basis of clear-plaque formation by the chimeric phage, were found only in restriction fragments containing the unique effector site in phi X174 DNA for the Escherichia coli protein n' dATPase (ATPase). Furthermore, these sequences were functional only when cloned in the orientation in which the phi X174 viral strand was joined to the M13 viral strand. A 181-nucleotide viral strand fragment containing this initiation determinant confers a phi X174-type complementary-strand replication mechanism on M13 chimeras. The chimeric phage is converted to the parental replicative form in vivo by a mechanism resistant to rifampin, a specific inhibitor of the normal RNA polymerase-dependent mechanism of M13. In vitro, the chimeric single-stranded DNA promotes the assembly of a functional multiprotein priming complex, or primosome, identical to that utilized by intact phi X174 viral strand DNA. Chimeric phage containing the sequence complementary to the 181-nucleotide viral strand sequence shows no initiation capability, either in vivo or in vitro.

Two DNA methyltransferases from murine erythroleukemia cells: purification, sequence specificity, and mode of interaction with DNA.

Dye-ligand chromatography on Cibacron blue F3GA-agarose has been used to resolve two species of DNA (cytosine-5-)-methyltransferase from nuclear extracts of uninduced Friend murine erythroleukemia cells. Each species has been highly purified; the activities in the first and second peaks were associated with polypeptides of Mr 150,000 and 175,000, respectively. Analysis of substrate specificity with synthetic DNAs and restriction fragments of phi X174 replicative form DNA and pBR322 DNA showed that neither enzyme had dependence on the sequence context of CpG dinucleotides; poly(dG-dC) had the greatest methyl-accepting activity of any unmethylated DNA substrate tested. De novo methylation by both enzymes was inefficient relative to methylation of hemimethylated sites. Methyl-accepting activity was strongly dependent on DNA chain length. This observation suggests that binding to DNA, followed by one-dimensional diffusion of enzyme along the DNA molecule, is important in the mechanism by which DNA methyltransferase locates its recognition sites.

Site specific cleavage of phi X-174 replicative form DNA after modification by N-acetoxy-N-2-acetylaminofluorene.

Three kinds of structural disturbances were found in an 88 base pair (bp) fragment of phi X-174 DNA after exposure to N-acetoxy-N-2-acetylaminofluorene (N-Aco-AAF). (i) Frequent strand scissions at two specific guanine sites on the 5' 32P-end-labeled fragment were identified by base sequence analysis. Scissions at these two sites were induced at neutral pH and they were not increased by treatment with apurinic endonuclease. They are an immediate consequence of N-Aco-AAF action and are not primarily apurinic sites. (ii) Alkali treatment with 1 M piperidine at 90 degrees C induced strand scissions at every guanine, demonstrating adduct slices, depurination and strand scissions. (iii) Adducted DNA was sensitive to single-strand specific nuclease digestion, suggesting unwound DNA. These studies indicate the prediliction of N-Aco-AAF for certain DNA sites and they suggest three kinds of DNA modifications which can be expected after adduction by this carcinogen. Some of the sites may be premutational carcinogen-induced DNA structural modifications.

Clonal inheritance of the pattern of DNA methylation in mouse cells.

DNA-mediated gene transfer was used to investigate the mode of inheritance of 5-methylcytosine in mouse L cells. Unmethylated phi X174 replicative form DNA remains unmethylated after its introduction and integration into these cells. On the other hand, phi X174 replicative form DNA that was methylated in vitro at its C-C-G-G residues retains these methylations as shown by restriction enzyme analysis with Hpa II and Msp I to detect methylation at this specific site. Although these unselected methylated vectors are prone to lose 30-40% of their methyl moieties upon transfection, this demethylation appears to be random. Once established, the resulting methylation pattern is stable for at least 100 cell generations. In order to examine the specificity of methylation inheritance, fully hemimethylated duplex phi X174 DNA was synthesized in vitro from primed single-strand phi X174 DNA by using 5-methyl deoxycytidine 5'-triphosphate. This molecule was inserted into mouse L cells by cotransformation and subsequently was analyzed by a series of restriction enzymes. Only methylations located at C-G residues were conserved after many generations of cell growth. The results suggest that the inheritance of the cellular DNA methylation pattern is based on a C-G-specific methylase that operates on newly replicated hemimethylated DNA.

Indiscriminate recombination in simian virus 40-infected monkey cells.

DNA transfection of African green monkey BSC-1 cells with simian virus 40 (SV40) DNA and bacterial virus phi X174 replicative form DNA ("cotransfection") yielded stocks containing SV40/phi X174 recombinant virus, which was detected by an infectious-center in situ plaque hybridization procedure and which was sensitive to anti-SV40 antiserum. The recombinant virus replicated during serial passage. Restriction endonuclease cleavage of the SV40/phi X174 DNA indicated that several different types of recombinant DNA structures had arisen. Similar SV40 DNA cotransfection experiments with polyoma virus DNA, bacterial plasmid (pBR322) DNA, and a plasmid-cloned segment of the mouse genome (coding for intracisternal type A particles) yielded stocks that generated recombinant plaques as judged by in situ plaque hybridization with the appropriate labeled probe. It appears, therefore, that an active indiscriminate recombination process, incapable of distinguishing between diverse DNAs of prokaryotic and eukaryotic origin, occurs in SV40-infected monkey cells.

A new system for studying molecular mechanisms of mutation by carcinogens.

A new system for studying the molecular mechanisms of mutation by carcinogens is described. The system involves (a) site-specific modification of the essential gene G in phi X174 replicative form DNA by a combination of chemical and enzymatic steps; (b) production of mutant virus carrying a change at a single preselected site by transfection of spheroplasts with the site modified phi X174 DNA; (c) detection and propagation of mutants using a host carrying the plasmid, p phi XG, that rescues all type of gene G mutants by complementation; (d) identification of the mutation in the progeny virus by isolating and sequencing mutant phi X174 DNA in the region that carried the parental, site-specific change. To demonstrate that this system is operational, we have produced a previously unknown phi X174 gene G mutant carrying a C leads to T base change at position 2401 of the viral (plus) strand. This preplanned, nonsense (amber) mutant was obtained by changing G to A at the appropriate position in a chemically synthesized, octadeoxynucleotide, minus strand primer; elongating this enzymatically with Escherichia coli DNA polymerase I (larger fragment) (lacking 5' leads to 3' exonuclease activity) to a 17-mer; and repriming to obtain the site-modified phi X174 replicative form DNA enzymatically with E. coli DNA polymerase I (large fragment) and T4 DNA ligase. After transfection of spheroplasts with the heteroduplex DNA, the lysate was screened for mutant virus with permissive (carrying p phi XG) and nonpermissive (without p phi XG) host cells. About 1% of the progeny virus were mutants. Out of 15 isolates, 11 were suppressible by an amber Su1+ (serine) or an ochre Su8+ (glutamine) suppressor. The other 4 isolates were not suppressed at all. Replicative form DNA produced from one of the suppressible mutants was shown (by sequencing) to contain the expected C leads to T change at the preselected site in the viral strand. Replicative form DNA from one of the nonsuppressible mutants was partially sequenced. No change was found at or around position 2401. The nature of the mutation(s) in these isolates is still unknown. The occurrence of mutations outside the preselected sites represent a potential problem for our projected studies, but additional data is required before the problem can be fully evaluated. In spite of this, it should be possible to study, in vivo, the biological effects of any site-specific modification (including covalent modifications by carcinogens) that can be introduced into gene G of phi X174 DNA via a synthetic, oligonucleotide primer.

The rep mutation. VI. Purification and properties of the Escherichia coli rep protein, DNA helicase III

The protein product of the rep gene of Escherichia coli is required for the replication of certain bacteriophage genomes (phi X174, fd, P2) and for the normal replication of E. coli DNA. We have used a specialized transducing phage, lambda p rep+, which complements the defect of rep mutants, to identify the rep protein. The rep protein has been purified from cells infected with lambda p rep+ phage; it has a molecular weight of about 70 000 and appears similar to the protein found in normal cells. Stimulation of phi X174 replicative form DNA synthesis in vitro was observed when highly purified rep protein was supplied to a cell extract derived from phi X-infected E. coli rep cells and supplemented with replicative form DNA. The purified protein has a single-stranded DNA-dependent ATPase activity and is capable of sensitizing duplex DNA to nucleases specific for single-stranded DNA. For this reason we propose the enzyme be called DNA helicase III. We infer that the rep protein uses the energy of hydrolysis of ATP to separate the strands of duplex DNA; the E. coli DNA binding protein need not be present. The rep3 mutant appeared to make a limited amount of active rep protein.

“Nick translation” in Escherichia coli rep strains deficient in DNA polymerase I activities

Using phiX1974 replicative form (RF) DNA as an in vivo probe, we have investigated the coordinated action of the 5' leads to 3' exonuclease and polymerase activities of DNA polymerase I in order to understand better its physiological role. We constructed double mutants containing the rep mutation (the replication of phiX174 RF does not occur in rep mutants) together with a mutation affecting DNA polymerase I, either polA12 or polA546ex. Using these mutants, which are believed to be thermosensitive in the polymerase function or the 5' leads to 3' exonuclease function respectively, we studied the kinetics of nick translation at the permissive and non-permissive temperatures in vivo. The substrate was the phiX174 replicative form DNA nicked by the phiX174 gene A protein. E. coli rep polA546ex gave the lowest rate of nick translation, although the ability to perform nick translation, at least as measured by our assay, was still present. E. coli rep polA12 showed a similar low rate at the non-permissive temperature but a rate close to the wild-type level at the permissive temperature. Formation of the parental replicative form molecule in either strain was affected little, even at the restrictive temperature. Our results suggest that DNA polymerase I may not play a major role in ongoing DNA replication.

Bacteriophage phiX174 RF DNA replication in vivo: a biochemical study.

Abstract We have studied the replication of bacteriophage φX174 replicative form (RF) DNA by biochemical analysis of pulse-labelled replicative intermediates and covalently closed RFI † DNA. The pulse-labelled DNA was isolated and separated into fractions which were shown to contain rolling circles, partially double-stranded molecules, RFI and RFII molecules, respectively. In these molecules the position of the pulse label and its strand specificity was determined. The results obtained were strongly dependent on the method used to stop the pulse-labelling. When the pulse is ended by poison (KCN and NaN 3 ) and fast cooling significantly more label is found in the viral than in the complementary strand. In agreement with the rolling circle model, the majority of the viral strand label is present in linear genome length and longer than genome length φX DNA molecules. The radioactivity in the RFII fraction is found almost exclusively in linear viral φX DNA of genome length. Restriction enzyme analysis of this fraction indicates that the φX viral strand DNA synthesis terminates in the Hae III restriction fragment Z 6B . In contrast, the main part of the labelled complementary strand φX DNA is found in short pieces. Full length, pulse-labelled complementary strands are present in the RFI fraction and to a minor extent in the RFII fraction. Restriction enzyme analysis of full length complementary strands, from RFI and RFII, shows that there is no unique termination site for the complementary strand DNA synthesis. Analysis of the pulse-labelled covalently closed RFI fraction indicates that this fraction contains a collection of molecules with increasing superhelix density, ranging from relaxed RFI up to fully super-twisted RFI DNA. This suggests that at the end of a replication cycle the conversion of RFII into superhelical RFI DNA involves the formation of relaxed RFI DNA and the successive introduction of superhelical turns. When the pulse is ended by pouring the infected culture into a phenol/ethanol solution less radioactivity is found to be incorporated into φX DNA. Furthermore, the distribution of the label between the complementary and viral strand is more equal, and significantly more radioactivity is found in short pieces. A comparison of both stopping methods indicates that fast cooling in poison does not stop efficiently φX. RF DNA replication, especially the viral strand DNA synthesis and DNA ligase action.

Localization of Escherichia coli RNA polymerase binding sites on bacteriophage S13 and phiX174 DNA: alignment with restriction enzyme maps

Escherichia coli RNA polymerase has been shown to bind to a limited number of Hind and Hae III restriction enzyme fragments. On S13 replicative form DNA there are three major binding sites, and the locations correlate with promoter sites at the beginning of genes a and B and a site overlapping gene D and the beginning of gene E. Two less definite binding sites have been localized, one in gene F and one at the gene G-H junction. In phiX174 replicative form DNA, five sites, each with apparently similar binding properties, have been located, four of which correspond exactly to binding sites in S13. One site, at the beginning of the B gene, could not be assigned to exactly the same location found in S13. This was due in part to differences in the restriction cleavage maps in the area of the DNA and possibly to the higher background of nonspecific binding in the phiX174 experiments. The location of two of the phiX174 sites at the beginning of genes A and D-E corresponds very well with transcription data, but the site at the start of the B gene indicates the promoter site is closer to the initiation sequence of the B protein than was previously suggested on the basis of transcription data.

Mapping of in vivo messenger RNAs for bacteriophage phiX-174.

In vivo messenger RNA for bacteriophage phiX174 was fractionated in agarose gels into a number of discrete species ranging in size from 0.23 X 10(6) to 2.3 X 10(6) daltons. These RNA species were eluted from the gels and hybridized to specific fragments derived from phiX-174 replicative form DNA by cleavage with restriction enzymes. A map of the orientation of in vivo messenger RNAs with respect to the bacteriophage genetic map was constructed. This map indicated that initiation of messenger RNA occurred before gene B, gene C or D, and probably before gene A and that termination occurred after genes E, F, G, and H. Termination of transcription at any particular site appeared not to be entirely effective such that a number of overlapping transcripts with the same 5'-terminus was observed. Messenger RNA for gene A seemed to be relatively unstable.

Bacteriophage phiX174 single-stranded viral DNA synthesis in temperature-sensitive dnaB and dna C mutants of Escherichia coli.

We asked if phiX174 single-stranded DNA synthesis could reinitiate at the nonpermissive temperature in dnaB and dnaC temperature-sensitive host mutants. The rates of single-stranded DNA synthesis were measured after the removal of chlorampheicol that had been added at various times after infection to specifically stop this stage of phiX174 DNA synthesis. Reinitiation was not defective in either mutant host. Our data suggested that the reinitiation of the single-stranded stage of phiX174 DNA synthesis in these experiments was analogous to the normal initiation of this stage of phiX174 DNA synthesis in infections without chloramphenicol. Assuming this to be the case, we conclude that the host cell dnaB and dnaC proteins are not essential for the normal initiation of the single-stranded synthesis stage of phiX174 DNA synthesis. In related experiments we observed that in the dnaC mutant host at the permissive temperature, phiX174 replicative form DNA synthesis continued at its initial rate even during the single-stranded DNA synthesis stage. This indicates that these two stages of phiX174 DNA synthesis are not necessarily mutually exclusive.

Multiple structures of adeno-associated virus DNA: analysis of terminally labeled molecules with endonuclease R-Hae III.

The double-stranded form of adeno-associated virus (AAV) DNA has about 20 sites sensitive to endonuclease R.Hae III from Haemophilus aegypitus; the fragments produced fall into about 13 size classes, 8 of which contain single fragments. The location of the Hae III-produced AAV fragments relative to the three EcoR1 fragments was determined. Using revised figures for the molecular weights of the Hae III cleavage products of phiX174 replicative form DNA, we calculated that AAV DNA contains about 4,000 nucleotides. After Hae III digestiion of duplex DNA terminally labeled with 32P using polynucleotide kinase, the majority of fragments containing a 5' 32P label were about 40 nucleotides in length, and fragments of similar size were generated from each end, suggesting that the Hae site closest to the end is within the terminal repetition. Two more-slowly-migrating cleavage products also bore 5' 32P end label. These three terminally labeled species were also generated from single-stranded AAV DNA by digestion with Hae III, and evidence that one may have a nonlinear ("rabbit-ear") structure is presented. The predominant 5' terminal base was identified as thymine for both the plus and minus strands of AAV. Single-stranded AAV molecules could not be efficiently covalently circularized by incubation with polynucleotide ligase or ligase plus T4 DNA polymerase.