Blondal T, Hjorleifsdottir SH, Fridjonsson OF, Aevarsson A, Skirnisdottir S, Hermannsdottir AG, Hreggvidsson GO, Smith AV, Kristjansson JK. Discovery and characterization of a thermostable bacteriophage RNA ligase homologous to T4 RNA ligase 1.
Nucleic Acids Res 2004;
31:7247-54. [PMID:
14654700 PMCID:
PMC291858 DOI:
10.1093/nar/gkg914]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Thermophilic viruses represent a novel source of genetic material and enzymes with great potential for use in biotechnology. We have isolated a number of thermophilic viruses from geothermal areas in Iceland, and by combining high throughput genome sequencing and state of the art bioinformatics we have identified a number of genes with potential use in biotechnology. We have also demonstrated the existence of thermostable counterparts of previously known bacteriophage enzymes. Here we describe a thermostable RNA ligase 1 from the thermophilic bacteriophage RM378 that infects the thermophilic eubacterium Rhodothermus marinus. The RM378 RNA ligase 1 has a temperature optimum of 60-64 degrees C and it ligates both RNA and single-stranded DNA. Its thermostability and ability to work under conditions of high temperature where nucleic acid secondary structures are removed makes it an ideal enzyme for RNA ligase-mediated rapid amplification of cDNA ends (RLM-RACE), and other RNA and DNA ligation applications.
Collapse