title: The oriC unwinding by dam methylation in Escherichia coli.
abstract: It has been shown that dam methylation is important in the regulation of initiation of DNA replication in E.coli. The question then arises as to whether dam methylation in the oriC region mediates any structural changes in DNA involved in the regulation of initiation of DNA replication. We demonstrate that the thermal melting temperature of the oriC region is lowered by adenine methylation at GATC sites. The regulation of initiation of DNA replication by dam methylation may be attributed to the ease of unwinding at GATC sites in oriC.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Applied Microbiology, University of Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yamaki
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ohtsubo
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nagai
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Maeda
mesh_terms: D000225:Adenine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000378:metabolism; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D004261:DNA Replication; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000378:metabolism*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D008745:Methylation; D008780:Methyltransferases / Q000378:metabolism*; D009691:Nucleic Acid Denaturation; D015265:Site-Specific DNA-Methyltransferase (Adenine-Specific); D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D000225:Adenine; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D008780:Methyltransferases; D015265:Site-Specific DNA-Methyltransferase (Adenine-Specific); C000730567:6-methyladenine