Progress of DNA- and/or RNA-directed DNA polymerization reactions can be measured continuously using circular dichroism (CD) or ultraviolet (UV) spectroscopy. In the presence of the Klenow fragment of Escherichia coli DNA polymerase I, a CD change of -0.27 +/- 0.06 millidegree at 248 nm and a UV change of -2.7 +/- 0.3 milliabsorbance units at 275 nm occur upon incorporation of 120 pmol of dTMP in a reaction volume of 120 microliters (1 microM dTMP incorporation) into a synthetic template-primer, p(dA)40-60.p(dT)20. The transcription of poly(A).p(dT)12-18 by reverse transcriptases can also be monitored using these methods. Kinetic parameters for the polymerization reaction catalyzed by the Klenow fragment were determined from initial velocity measurements using CD or UV assays and were in close agreement with those measured by the standard single point radiochemical filtration assay. The generality of optical techniques for the measurement of DNA polymerase activity was shown by the use of a partially self-complementary hairpin-shaped oligonucleotide substrate for the Klenow fragment. Addition of a single nucleotide residue under steady-state conditions to this 35-mer at a concentration of 1.5-3 microM gave an easily measurable absorbance decrease at 275 nm, and the absorbance changes upon sequential addition of nucleotide units were additive.