Allocation of 15 RNase T1-resistant large oligonucleotides of MS2 RNA

Four large MS2 RNA fragments with the original 5'-end were obtained by limited RNase T1 digestion. The lengths of the fragments were 36, 30, 22, and 19% of the whole molecule. Whole MS2 RNA and the four fragments were completely digested with RNase T1 and analyzed by the two-dimensional "homochromatography fingerprint" technique. Sixteen oligonucleotides of MS2 RNA were separated and the oligonucleotides were assigned to the fragments. Fifteen of the sixteen oligonucleotides could be classified into three regions of the cistrons of bacteriophage MS2.

Nuclear magnetic resonance study of hydrogen-bonded ring protons in oligonucleotide helices involving classical and nonclassical base pairs

A study of the exchangeable ring nitrogen protons in aqueous solutions of oligonucleotide complexes involving Watson-Crick base pairs as well as Hoogsteen pairs and other nonclassical hydrogen bonding schemes shows that resolvable resonances in the low-field (-10 to -16 ppm from sodium 4,4-dimethyl-4-silapentanesulfonate) region can be detected in a variety of structures other than double stranded helices. Ring nitrogen proton resonances arising from the following hydrogen-bonding situations are reported: (1) AT and GC Watson-Crick base pairs in a self-complementary octanucleotide, dApApApGpCpTpTpT; (2) U-A-U base triples in complexes between oligo-U15 and AMP; (3) C-G-C+ base triples in complexes between oligo-C17 and GMP at acid pH; (4) s4U-A-s4U base triples in complexes between oligo-s4U15 and AMP, all of which involve both Watson-Crick and Hoogsteen base pairing to form triplexes; (5) C-C+ base pairing between protonated and unprotonated C residues in oligo-C17 at acid pH; and (6) I4 base quadruples in the four strand association among oligo-I at high salt. The behavior of the dA3G-CT3 helix is consistent with both fraying of the terminal base pairs and presence of intermediate states as the helix opens. In the monomer-oligomer complexes, under the conditions used here, the exchange appears to be governed by the dissociation rate of monomer from the complex. These findings suggest that those tertiary structure hydrogen bonds in tRNA involving ring nitrogen protons should have representative resonances in the low-field (11-16 ppm) proton NMR region in H2O.

Hydrogen-bonded complexes of the ribodinucleoside monophosphates in aqueous solution. Proton magnetic resonance studies

A proton magnetic resonance study of the chemical shifts of a series of ribodinucleoside monophosphates in neutral H2O solution has been recorded in the 1-100 mM concentration range. The self-complementary dinucleoside monophosphates CpG and GpC and the complementary mixture GpU + ApC form intermolecular hydrogen-bonded complexes at low temperatures. The amino proton chemical shifts in the CpG and GpC spectra are consistent with the formation of a miniature double helical dimer in neutral aqueous solution at low temperatures (approximately 2 degrees C). The complementary mixture of dinucleosides GpU + ApC formed much less stable complexes than either GpC or CpG, while UpA did not show any indication of the formation of intermolecular hydrogen-bonded complexes. This result is consistent with the well-known observation that the stability of a double helix is proportional to the percent of G-C base pairs present.

[Conditions for specific oligoribonucleotide binding with E. coli RNA-polymerase]

RNA polymerase of E. coli (EC 2.7.7.6) is able to bind certain oligoribonucleotides with the length greater than or equal to 5 from the corresponding isoplith mixtures (Knorre V.L., Vasilenko S.V., Salganik R.I., FEBS Letters 30, 229, 1973). It has been shown in this study that all pentaribonucleotides able to be bound by RNA polymerase can be extracted from the random mixture by the enzyme saturation procedure. Loosely and tightly bound pentaribonucleotides subfractions were isolated and each was separated by chromatography into 3-4 isopliths. Blocking of the enzyme SH groups by p-chloromercurium benzoate (10(-3) M) and denaturation by urea (6.3 M) prevent formation of the enzyme-pentaribonucleotides complexes. Complexes are destroyed by heat denaturation. Removal of sigma-subunit does not influence the enzyme capacity for pentaribonucleotides binding.

Restriction of carcinogen-induced error incorporation during in vitro DNA synthesis

The in vitro accuracy of DNA replication has been investigated through the measurement of the frequency with which noncomplementary nucleotides were incorporated during polynucleotide replication. The effect of beta-propiolactone treatment of deoxynucleotide templates, ribopolynucleotide templates, and the DNA polymerase from avian myeloblastosis virus was determined. Treatment of the deoxynucleotide template, poly(dA) (see article) oligo(dT) 12-18, by beta-propiolactone resulted in an increased frequency of noncomplementary nucleotide incorporation during DNA polymerization. Carcinogen treatment of the ribonucleotide templates, poly(rA) (see article) oligo(dT) 12-18, and poly(rC) (see article) oligo(dG) 12-18, and carcinogen treatment of avian myeloblastosis virus DNA polymerase did not alter the frequency of noncomplementary nucleotide incorporation. This suggested that carcinogen-induced error incorporation during DNA synthesis was restricted solely to the treatment of a deoxynucleotide template.

[Use of snake venom immobilized phosphodiesterase for analysis of the nucleotide composition of oligodesoxyribonucleotides]

A simple one-step technique for the analysis of nucleotide composition of oligodeoxyribonucleotides is described. The method is based on enzymatic hydrolysis and subsequent separation of hydrolysate on a "combined" column with Aminex A 28 anionite, on which top immobilyzed on DEAE cellulose snake venom phosphodiesterase is layed. The method is tested using a number of synthetic di- and tri-deoxyribonucleotides.

Protonated polynucleotide structures. 18. Interaction of oligocytidylates with poly (G)

The faculty for and degree of oligo(C)-poly(G) interaction is described as an essentially chain length - sensitive phenomenon. At neutral pH under suitable experimental conditions, oligocytidylates of chain length greater than four associate with poly(G) to form double-stranded structures, as does poly(C). The extent of complex formation increases with degree of polymerization. The complex at acid pH is shown to be triple-stranded, of stoicheometry 2C/1G. The observation of a 2G/1C artifact is discussed.

Differential activity staining: its use in characterization of guanylyl-specific ribonuclease in the genus Ustilago

Guanylyl-specific ribonuclease can be identified by a novel technique employing electrophoresis in polyacrylamide slabs followed by differential activity staining. The technique requires as little as 7 ng of enzyme which may be grossly admixed with contaminants, including other ribonucleases. Upon electrophoresis and activity staining, a variety of ribonucleases can be visualized as light or clear bands in a colored background formed by toluidine blue complexed with oligonucleotide substrate. Guanylyl-specific ribonuclease, which is detectable when using an oligonucleotide substrate of random base sequence, does not yield a band when using oligonucleotides bearing guanylyl residues at the 3'-termini only and containing, therefore, no susceptible internucleotide bonds; in contrast, a ribonuclease with a different base specificity or no base specificity yields a band with either substrate. This differential activity staining method for establishing guanylyl specificity permits estimation of the extent of nonspecific cleavage of internucleotide linkages by a putatively guanylyl-specific enzyme and is at least as sensitive as conventional procedures for determination of base specificity. With this new technique guanyloribonuclease has been identified in the unfractionated culture medium of 10 organisms belonging to the phytopathogenic fungal genus Ustilago. It is suggested that guanylyl-specific ribonuclease is widely distributed among Ustilago species; its electrophoretic properties may be revealing of phylogenetic relationships among these plant parasites and among their hosts. The general technique of differential activity staining, developed for determination of the base specificity of ribonucleases, may be widely applicable to analysis of enzymes catalyzing depolymerization reactions.

A novel oligoribonuclease of Escherichia coli. II. Mechanism of action

Detailed studies of the mechanism of action of the novel oligoribonuclease of Escherichia coli described in the previous paper (1) led to the following conclusions. 1. The enzyme prefers a free 3'-hydroxyl group for its action. 2. The enzyme attacks the oligoribonucleotide substrate in a sequential manner from the 3' end producing 5'-ribonucleotides. 3. The mode of attack appears to be processive; the enzyme acts by degrading one oligoribonucleotide chain to completion before proceeding to the hydrolysis of another chain. 4. The reaction rate is inversely proportional to the chain length of the substrate; however, the enzyme has a higher affinity for longer chains. 5. The enzyme activity is markedly inhibited by secondary structure; oligoribonucleotides combined with complementary polyribonucleotides are attacked poorly below the melting temperature of the complex and efficiently above the melting temperature. 6. The enzyme is inhibited by 5'-nucleotides of adenine and guanine; those of cytosine and uracil have a much smaller effect. The enzyme is not inhibited by 3'-nucleotides. 7. Studies with dinucleoside monophosphate show highest reaction rates with pyrimidine sequences in the order: CpCgreater than UpUgreater than CpUgreater than UpC. The presence of guanine at the 3' end is strongly inhibitory, and reaction rates are CpGgreater than UpG=ApGgreater than GpG.

A novel oligoribonuclease of Escherichia coli. I. Isolation and properties

A new ribonuclease has been isolated from Escherichia coli. The enzyme is present in the 100,000 times g supernatant fraction and has been purified over 200-fold. Studies of the enzyme reveal that: 1. The enzyme shows a marked preference for oligoribonucleotides; indeed, the reaction rate is inversely proportional to the chain length of the substrate. The enzyme does not attack polynucleotides even at high concentrations of enzyme and has no detectable DNase activity. 2. The enzyme is stimulated strongly by Mn2+, less strongly by Mg2+, and not at all by Ca2+ and monovalent cations. 3. The enzyme is purified free of RNase I, RNase II, RNase III, polynucleotide phosphorylase, and other known ribonucleases of E. coli. The enzyme displays identical properties when isolated from mutants of E. coli that are deficient in the above ribonucleases. 4. The enzyme has a marked thermostability, a point of further distinction from RNase II.

Complementary binding of oligonucleotides with 16S RNA and ribosomal ribonucleoproteins

The accessibility of single-stranded sequences in 16S RNA in free state and in ribonucleoprotein particles (RNP) to complementary binding with isoplith fractions of oligonucleotides was studied. RNP had different protein composition and corresponded to intermediate stages of E. coli 30S subunit assembly in vitro. Gel-filtration was used to detect the most strong binding. It was found that S4 essentially inhibited the hexamer binding to RNA. 'Core' proteins bound to 16S RNA strongly increased the shielding of single-stranded regions while 'split' proteins insignificantly changed the hexamer binding. Nevertheless evidence is presented that 'split' proteins might also interact directly with 16S RNA in the 30S subunit.

RNA CODEWORDS AND PROTEIN SYNTHESIS. THE EFFECT OF TRINUCLEOTIDES UPON THE BINDING OF SRNA TO RIBOSOMES

A rapid, sensitive method is described for measuring C(14)-aminoacyl-sRNA interactions with ribosomes which are specifically induced by the appropriate RNA codewords prior to peptide-bond formation. Properties of the codeword recognition process and the minimum oligonucleotide chain length required to induce such interactions are presented. The trinucleotides, pUpUpU, pApApA, and pCpCpC, but not dinucleotides, specifically direct the binding to ribosomes of phenylalanine-, lysine-, and proline-sRNA, respectively. Since 5'-terminal, 3'-terminal, and internal codewords differ in chemical structure, three corresponding classes of codewords are proposed. The recognition of each class in this system is described. The template efficiency of trinucleotide codewords is modified greatly by terminal phosphate. Triplets with 5'-terminal phosphate are more active as templates than triplets without terminal phosphate. Triplets with 3'- or 3' (2')-terminal phosphate are markedly less active as templates. These findings are discussed in relation to the probable functions of terminal codewords. The modification of RNA and DNA codewords, converting sense into missense or nonsense codewords, is suggested as a possible regulatory mechanism in protein synthesis.