title: Slow replication of palindrome-containing DNA.
abstract: Lambda red gam phage carrying a 571 base-pair palindrome are unviable in wild-type Escherichia coli hosts. By using de-methylation to study the fate of DNA strands introduced into E. coli, we have demonstrated that a decrease in the yield of palindrome-containing molecules with two newly synthesized strands can occur without any concomitant loss of replicated molecules containing input strands. This implies that the palindrome-containing DNA is not being destroyed even as a consequence of replication, but rather that its replication rate is reduced. These results demonstrate that a palindrome can mediate unviability without directing cleavage of its carrier replicon.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology, University of Edinburgh, U.K.
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Lindsey
authors.forename: D R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Leach
mesh_terms: D001482:Base Composition; D003090:Coliphages / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D004261:DNA Replication; D004278:DNA, Superhelical / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D008745:Methylation; D012091:Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid
chemical_list: D004278:DNA, Superhelical; D004279:DNA, Viral