title: In vivo and in vitro analyses of an intron-encoded DNA endonuclease from yeast mitochondria. Recognition site by site-directed mutagenesis.
abstract: The pal 4 nuclease (termed I-Sce II) is encoded in the group I al 4 intron of the COX I gene of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. It introduces a specific double-strand break at the junction of the two exons A4-A5 and thus mediates the insertion of the intron into an intronless strain. To define the sequence recognized by pal 4 we introduced 35 single mutations in its target sequence and examined their cleavage properties either in vivo in E. coli (when different forms of the pal 4 proteins were artificially produced) or in vitro with mitochondrial extracts of a mutant yeast strain blocked in the splicing of the al 4 intron. We also detected the pal 4 DNA endonuclease activity in extracts of the wild type strain. The results suggest that 6 to 9 noncontiguous bases in the 17 base-pair region examined are necessary for pal 4 nuclease to bind and cleave its recognition site. We observed that the pal 4 nuclease specificity can be significantly different with the different forms of the protein thus explaining why only some forms are highly toxic in E. coli. This study shows that pal 4 recognition site is a complex phenomenon and this might have evolutionary implications on the transfer properties of the intron.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Génétique Moléculaire, CNRS UA 1302, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris, France.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sargueil
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hatat
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Delahodde
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jacq
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D015139:Blotting, Southern; D004271:DNA, Fungal / Q000378:metabolism; D015252:Deoxyribonucleases, Type II Site-Specific; D004706:Endodeoxyribonucleases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics; D005091:Exons; D005800:Genes, Fungal; D007438:Introns; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000201:enzymology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016297:Mutagenesis, Site-Directed; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins
chemical_list: D004271:DNA, Fungal; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; D004706:Endodeoxyribonucleases; C066166:AI4 protein, S cerevisiae; D015252:Deoxyribonucleases, Type II Site-Specific