The polymerization reaction catalyzed by Escherichia coli DNA polymerase I (Pol I) has been studied by using the homopolymer template-primer system poly(dA).oligo(dT). Isotope-partitioning experiments indicate that the reaction follows an ordered mechanism in which Pol I first combines with template-primer to form an E.poly complex followed by addition of MgTTP and catalysis. The parameters governing the binding of Pol I to the template-primer are kon = 1.2 X 10(6) M-1 s-1, koff = 0.25 s-1, and KD = 2 X 10(-7) M. Efforts to demonstrate the catalytic competence of the binary E.MgTTP complex were unsuccessful. Following initiation of the catalytic cycle, Pol I catalyzes the incorporation of an average of 40-50 TTP molecules into polymer before dissociating from the template-primer. The processive nature of the polymerization reaction as reflected by the isotope-trapping time dependence can be accounted for by a model in which processive synthesis is treated as a simple partitioning between continued polymerization (kcat = 3.8 s-1, 22 degrees C) and dissociation of the enzyme from the template-primer under steady-state conditions (koffss = 0.1 s-1). The rapid quench time course of the polymerization reaction (kcat = 2.5 s-1, 20 degrees C) exhibited a pre-steady-state burst consistent with two partially rate-determining steps, one of which precedes the actual chemical phosphodiester bond-forming step (k = 4.6 s-1) and the other which follows this step (k = 4.0 s-1). Binding of MgTTP to the E.poly complex was shown to be a rapid equilibrium step by steady-state isotope-partitioning experiments. This suggested that the first rate-determining step may be a first-order isomerization which follows the binding of substrates and precedes bond formation.

The hydrolysis reaction of ATP alpha S by snake venom phosphodiesterase is highly specific for the B diastereomer and proceeds with 88% retention of configuration at phosphorus. Since this enzyme also catalyzes the hydrolysis of the S enantimoer of O-p-nitrophenyl phenylphosphonothioate, the absolute configuration at A alpha of ATP alpha S (B) is assigned as the R configuration provided the two substrates are processed identically. A mechanism for the hydrolysis reactions catalzyed by the venom phosphodiesterase involving at least a single covalent phosphoryl-enzyme intermediate is in accord with this result.

The ATP-dependent three-strand exchange activity of the Streptococcus pneumoniae RecA protein (RecA(Sp)), like that of the Escherichia coli RecA protein (RecA(Ec)), is strongly stimulated by the single-stranded DNA-binding protein (SSB) from either E. coli (SSB(Ec)) or S. pneumoniae (SSB(Sp)). The RecA(Sp) protein differs from the RecA(Ec) protein, however, in that its ssDNA-dependent ATP hydrolysis activity is completely inhibited by SSB(Ec) or SSB(Sp) protein, apparently because these proteins displace RecA(Sp) protein from ssDNA. These results indicate that in contrast to the mechanism that has been established for the RecA(Ec) protein, SSB protein does not stimulate the RecA(Sp) protein-promoted strand exchange reaction by facilitating the formation of a presynaptic complex between the RecA(Sp) protein and the ssDNA substrate. In addition to acting presynaptically, however, it has been proposed that SSB(Ec) protein also stimulates the RecA(Ec) protein strand exchange reaction postsynaptically, by binding to the displaced single strand that is generated when the ssDNA substrate invades the homologous linear dsDNA. In the RecA(Sp) protein-promoted reaction, the stimulatory effect of SSB protein may be due entirely to this postsynaptic mechanism. The competing displacement of RecA(Sp) protein from the ssDNA substrate by SSB protein, however, appears to limit the efficiency of the strand exchange reaction (especially at high SSB protein concentrations or when SSB protein is added to the ssDNA before RecA(Sp) protein) relative to that observed under the same conditions with the RecA(Ec) protein.

The structurally related nucleoside triphosphates, adenosine triphosphate (ATP), purine riboside triphosphate (PTP), inosine triphosphate (ITP), and guanosine triphosphate (GTP), are all hydrolyzed by the recA protein with the same turnover number (17.5 min-1). The S0.5 values for these nucleotides increase progressively in the order ATP (45 microM), PTP (100 microM), ITP (300 microM), and GTP (750 microM). PTP, ITP, and GTP are each competitive inhibitors of recA protein-catalyzed ssDNA-dependent ATP hydrolysis, indicating that these nucleotides all compete for the same catalytic site on the recA protein. Despite these similarities, ATP and PTP function as cofactors for the recA protein-promoted three-strand exchange reaction, whereas ITP and GTP are inactive as cofactors. The strand exchange activity of the various nucleotides correlates directly with their ability to support the isomerization of the recA protein to a strand exchange-active conformational state. The mechanistic deficiency of ITP and GTP appears to arise as a consequence of the hydrolysis of these nucleotides to the corresponding nucleoside diphosphates, IDP and GDP. We speculate the nucleoside triphosphates with S0.5 values greater than 100 microM will be intrinsically unable to sustain the strand exchange-active conformational state of the recA protein during ongoing NTP hydrolysis and will therefore be inactive as cofactors for the strand exchange reaction.