Abstract
T4 endonuclease VII cleaves Holliday structures in vitro by cutting two strands of the same polarity at or near the branch point. The two unbranched duplexes produced by cleavage each contain a strand break that can be sealed by DNA ligase. This suggests that the cut sites are at the same position in the nucleotide sequence in each strand. The joint action of endonuclease VII and DNA ligase can therefore resolve Holliday structures into genetically sensible products. These observations account for the role of endonuclease VII in the DNA metabolism of phage T4, and provide the first example of an enzyme that acts specifically on branch points in duplex DNA.
Publication types
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Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.
MeSH terms
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Bacteriophage lambda / genetics
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DNA Helicases / pharmacology
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DNA Ligases / pharmacology
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DNA Restriction Enzymes
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DNA, Circular / metabolism
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DNA, Recombinant
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DNA, Viral / genetics
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DNA, Viral / metabolism*
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DNA-Binding Proteins*
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Endodeoxyribonucleases / metabolism*
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Endodeoxyribonucleases / pharmacology
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Nucleic Acid Conformation
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Recombination, Genetic
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T-Phages / enzymology
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T-Phages / genetics*
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Viral Proteins*
Substances
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DNA, Circular
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DNA, Recombinant
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DNA, Viral
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DNA-Binding Proteins
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Viral Proteins
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gp32 protein, Enterobacteria phage T4
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helix-destabilizing proteins
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Endodeoxyribonucleases
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DNA Restriction Enzymes
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endodeoxyribonuclease VII
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DNA Helicases
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DNA Ligases