We have postulated that chromosomal replication origin regions in eukaryotes have in common clusters of certain modular sequence elements (Benbow, Zhao, and Larson, BioEssays 14, 661-670, 1992). In this study, computer analyses of DNA sequences from six origin regions showed that each contained one or more potential initiation regions consisting of a putative DUE (DNA unwinding element) aligned with clusters of SAR (scaffold associated region), and ARS (autonomously replicating sequence) consensus sequences, and pyrimidine tracts. The replication origins analyzed were from the following loci: Tetrahymena thermophila macronuclear rDNA gene, Chinese hamster ovary dihydrofolate reductase amplicon, human c-myc proto-oncogene, chicken histone H5 gene, Drosophila melanogaster chorion gene cluster on the third chromosome, and Chinese hamster ovary rhodopsin gene. The locations of putative initiation regions identified by the computer analyses were compared with published data obtained using diverse methods to map initiation sites. For at least four loci, the potential initiation regions identified by sequence analysis aligned with previously mapped initiation events. A consensus DNA sequence, WAWTTDDWWWDHWGWHMAWTT, was found within the potential initiation regions in every case. An additional 35 kb of combined flanking sequences from the six loci were also analyzed, but no additional copies of this consensus sequence were found.

The atomic force microscope (AFM;1) can image DNA and RNA in air and under solutions at resolution comparable to that obtained by electron microscopy (EM) (2-7). We have developed a method for depositing and imaging linear DNA molecules to which 5nm gold spheres have been attached. The gold spheres facilitate orientation of the DNA molecules on the mica surface to which they are absorbed and are potentially useful as internal height standards and as high resolution gene or sequence specific tags. We show that by modulating their adhesion to the mica surface, the gold spheres can be moved with some degree of control with the scanning tip.

The autonomously replicating rRNA genes (rDNA) in the somatic nucleus of Tetrahymena thermophila are maintained at a copy number of approximately 10 per nucleus. A mutant in which the replication properties of this molecule were altered was isolated and characterized. This mutation of inbred strain C3, named rmm4, was shown to have the same effect on rDNA replication and to be associated with the same 1-base-pair (bp) deletion as the previously reported, independently derived rmml mutation (D. L. Larson, E. H. Blackburn, P. C. Yaeger, and E. Orias, Cell 47:229-240, 1986). The rDNA of inbred strain B, which is at a replicational disadvantage compared with wild-type C3 rDNA, has a 42-bp deletion. This deletion is separated by 25 bp from the 1-bp deletion of rmm4 or rmml. Southern blot analysis and DNA sequencing revealed that during prolonged vegetative divisions of C3-rmm4IB-rmm heterozygotes, somatic recombination produced rDNAs lacking both the rmm4-associated deletion and the 42-bp deletion. In somatic nuclei in which this rare recombinational event had occurred, all 104 copies of nonrecombinant rDNA were eventually replaced by the recombinant rDNA. The results prove that each of the two deletions is the genetic determinant of the observed replication disadvantage. We propose that the analysis of somatically recombinant rDNAs can be used as a general method in locating other mutations which affect rDNA propagation in T. thermophila.The rRNA genes (rDNA) in the ciliated protozoan Tetrahymena thermophila provide an excellent opportunity for studying DNA replication in a eucaryotic system. In the somatic nuclei of T. thermophila, the rDNA is a relatively short (21-kilobase pair [kb] somally integrated rDNA copy in each haploid genome. During macronuclear development, the rDNA is excised from the chromosome and converted into a 21-kb palindromic molecule. The palindrome is made up of two inversely oriented copies of the micronuclear rDNA sequence. The extrachromosomal rDNA acquires telomeres (1) and is amplified to a copy number of about 104 molecules per macronucleus. These maturation events are completed prior to the onset of vegetative growth, approximately 18 h after conjugation is initiated. The macronuclear rDNA is maintained at a high copy number throughout vegetative cell divisions. Figure 1A diagrams one-half of an rDNA palindrome. The origin of replication is within the 5' nontranscribed spacer (5'NTS), upstream from the transcription initiation site (Fig. 1A) (4). Two nuclease-hypersensitive regions within the 5'NTS (15), domains 1 and 2, have very similar sequences and contain evolutionarily conserved repeated sequence elements (5, 11). By mutational analysis, one of these repeated elements (type I) was implicated in the activation of rDNA replication (8).We have previously shown that rDNA from a T. thermophila inbred strain C3 (C3 rDNA) has a replicative advantage over rDNA from inbred strain B (B rDNA), causing C3 rDNA to completely replace B rDNA in C3/B heterozygotes during vegetative growth (8)....

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DNA topoisomerase I (topo I) from Drosophila melanogaster contains a nonconserved, hydrophilic N-terminal domain of about 430 residues upstream of the conserved core domains. Deletion of this N terminus did not affect the catalytic activity of topo I, while further removal of sequences into the conserved regions inactivated its enzymatic activity. We have investigated the cellular function of the Drosophila topo I N-terminal domain with top1-lacZ transgenes. There was at least one putative nuclear localization signal within the first 315 residues of the N-terminal domain that allows efficient import of the large chimeric proteins into Drosophila nuclei. The top1-lacZ fusion proteins colocalized with RNA polymerase II (pol II) at developmental puffs on the polytene chromosomes. Either topo I or the top1-lacZ fusion protein was colocalized with RNA pol II in some but not all of the nonpuff, interband loci. However, the fusion proteins as well as RNA pol II were recruited to heat shock puffs during heat treatment, and they returned to the developmental puffs after recovery from heat shock. By immunoprecipitation, we showed that two of the largest subunits of RNA pol II coprecipitated with the N-terminal 315-residue fusion protein by using antibodies against ␤-galactosidase. These data suggest that the topo I fusion protein can be localized to the transcriptional complex on chromatin and that the N-terminal 315 residues were sufficient to respond to cellular processes, especially during the reprogramming of gene expression.Type I DNA topoisomerase (topo I) catalyzes a cycle of transesterification reactions, during which it generates transient single-strand DNA breaks; these reversible reactions result in the topological transformation of either single-strand or double-strand DNA molecules (8,20,55). Biochemical and genetic studies have demonstrated that topo I plays important roles in DNA replication, transcription, and recombination and in chromosome condensation and the maintenance of genome stability. The top1 gene is not essential for viability in yeast, and genetic analysis suggests that some of the biological functions of topo I can be performed by topo II (59). However, recent genetic screens of Saccharomyces cerevisiae have identified four complementation groups of mutants with mutations that, in combination with a top1 mutation, result in a lethal phenotype. Some of these synthetic lethal mutants have mutations in genes other than top2 (44). Therefore, it is possible that not all the biological functions of topo I can be substituted by topo II. Furthermore, because top1 is an essential gene in Drosophila melanogaster (30) and in mice (37), the functions of topo I may not be efficiently substituted by topo II in multicellular organisms.One of the functions of topo I is to provide a swivel to facilitate the unwinding of the DNA duplex during the process of transcription or replication (56). Diametric DNA supercoiling can transiently accumulate in the front and in the wake of a transcriptional fork as proposed...

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An origin of DNA replication has been mapped within the 5' non-transcribed spacer region of the amplified macronuclear rRNA genes (rDNA) of Tetrahymena thermophila. Mutations in 33 nt conserved AT-rich Type I repeat sequences located in the origin region cause defects in the replication and/or maintenance of amplified rDNA in vivo. Fe(II)EDTA cleavage footprinting of restriction fragments containing the Type I repeat showed that most of the conserved nucleotides were protected by proteins in extracts of Tetrahymena cells. Two classes of proteins that bound the Type I repeat were identified and characterized using synthetic oligonucleotides in electrophoretic mobility shift assays. One of these, ds-TIBF, bound preferentially to duplex DNA and exhibited only moderate specificity for Type I repeat sequences. In contrast, a single-stranded DNA-binding protein, ssA-TIBF, specifically recognized the A-rich strand of the Type I repeat sequence. Deletion of the 5' or 3' borders of the conserved sequence significantly reduced binding of ssA-TIBF. The binding properties of ssA-TIBF, coupled with genetic evidence that Type I sequences function as cis-acting rDNA replication control elements in vivo, suggest a possible role for ssA-TIBF in rDNA replication in Tetrahymena.

We have imaged gold-labeled DNA molecules with the atomic force microscope (AFM). Circular plasmid DNA was labeled at internal positions by nick-translation using biotinylated dUTP. For visualization, the biotinylated DNA was linked to streptavidin-coated colloidal gold spheres (nominally 5 nm diam) prior to AFM imaging. Reproducible images of the labeled DNA were obtained both in dry air and under propanol. Height measurements of the DNA and colloidal gold made under both conditions are presented. The stability of the DNA-streptavidin colloidal gold complexes observed even under propanol suggests that this labeling procedure could be exploited to map regions of interest in chromosomal DNA.