Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:2.7.7.7 (DNA polymerase)
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Spontaneous, 2-aminopurine- and 5-bromouracil-induced mutations at six rII nonsense codons were studied in phage T4 strains possessing wild-type and mutant gene 43 alleles. The mutation pathways studied included interconversions and reversions of nonsense codons. The tsCB87 allele, which specifies an antimutator DNA polymerase, reduced base-analogue-induced mutation frequencies along all pathways. However, GC base pairs were less affected than AT base pairs. The frequency of spontaneous UAA leads to UAG conversions was also reduced by tsCB87, but that of spontaneous UAA leads to UAG UGA conversions was often increased. Mutation in the presence of the mutator allele tsL56 was increased along all pathways, with no preference for either AT or GC base pairs. Mutation frequencies in the presence of the two mutant DNA polymerases were highly variable. A strong correlation was found between 2-aminopurine-induced mutation frequencies in ts+ tsCB87 phage along the reversion and UAA changed to UAG (but not UAA changed to UGA) pathways.
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PMID:Site specificity and variability in the mutator and antimutator effects of phage T4 gene 43 mutants. 74 72

The dnaX gene (previously called dnaZX) of Escherichia coli has only one open reading frame for a 71-kDa polypeptide from which two distinct DNA polymerase III holoenzyme subunits, tau (71 kDa) and gamma (47 kDa), are produced. To determine how the gamma subunit is generated, we examined the influence of mutations in the dnaX gene on the pattern of tau and gamma production in overproducing cells. Important structural elements in dnaX mRNA include a stretch of six adenines (nucleotides 1425-1430), a stable hairpin structure (nucleotides 1437-1466), and a UGA stop codon in a -1 frame (nucleotides 1434-1436) between the stretch of adenines and the hairpin structure. Disruption of this stop codon generates a slightly larger gamma subunit, indicative of the use of a -1 stop codon farther downstream (nucleotides 1470-1472). These results suggest that a -1 frameshift during translation allows the use of this UGA codon to terminate translation of the gamma polypeptide. The amino acid composition, sequence, and mass spectra of a C-terminal peptide from mild digestion of the purified gamma protein with endoproteinase Lys-C confirms that this frameshift occurs at either of the two lysine codons in the region of the adenine stretch. Remarkable features of this frameshifting are its high frequency (i.e., about 80% in an overproducing cell) and the striking structural similarity to the frameshifting signal responsible for expression of the pol and pro genes in many retroviruses.
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PMID:Translational frameshifting generates the gamma subunit of DNA polymerase III holoenzyme. 218 40

In the chestnut-blight fungus Cryphonectria parasitica, a plasmid, pCRY1, occurs in the mitochondria of several strains isolated at various locations in the northeastern United States and Canada. The monomer of this plasmid is a 4.2-kb circular double-stranded DNA that has no detectable sequence homology with the 160-kb mitochondrial DNA of Ep155, a standard virulent laboratory strain of C. parasitica. The circular nature and oligomeric characteristics of the plasmid were deduced from the heterogeneous size of plasmid DNA molecules as detected by one- and two-dimensional gel-electrophoresis, the nature and alignment of restriction fragments, and the lack of detectable termini in the nucleotide sequence. The cytoplasmic location of the plasmid was deduced from its co-purification with mitochondria, uniparental (maternal) transmission in sexual crosses, dissociation from the nuclei of the donor strain during its horizontal transfer between vegetatively compatible strains through hyphal anastomoses, and mitochondrial codon usage (UGA = Try). The pCRY1 plasmid contains a long open reading frame that is transcribed and potentially encodes a unique 1214 amino-acid, B-family DNA polymerase similar to those encoded by the LaBelle and Fiji circular mitochondrial plasmids of Neurospora. In this subgroup of proteins, the DTD motif characteristic of B-family DNA polymerases is replaced by TTD. Amino-acid motifs related to those that are characteristic of the 3'-->5' exonuclease domains of B-family DNA polymerases have been located in the amino-terminal portion of the proteins. A comparison of isogenic plasmid-free and plasmid-containing cultures indicates that pCRY1 is an infectious agent that effects a reduction in the pathogenicity of some, but not all, strains of C. parasitica.
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PMID:A circular mitochondrial plasmid incites hypovirulence in some strains of Cryphonectria parasitica. 1080 86