title: Conservation of an ATP-binding domain among RecA proteins from Proteus vulgaris, Erwinia carotovora, Shigella flexneri, and Escherichia coli K-12 and B/r.
abstract: The purified RecA proteins encoded by the cloned genes from Proteus vulgaris, Erwinia carotovora, Shigella flexneri, and Escherichia coli B/r were compared with the RecA protein from E. coli K-12. Each of the proteins hydrolyzed ATP in the presence of single-stranded DNA, and each was covalently modified with the photoaffinity ATP analog 8-azidoadenosine 5'-triphosphate (8N3ATP). Two-dimensional tryptic maps of the four heterologous RecA proteins demonstrated considerable structural conservation among these bacterial genera. Moreover, when the [alpha-32P]8N3ATP-modified proteins were digested with trypsin and analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography, a single peak of radioactivity was detected in each of the digests and these peptides eluted identically with the tryptic peptide T31 of the E. coli K-12 RecA protein, which was the unique site of 8N3ATP photolabeling. Each of the heterologous recA genes hybridized to oligonucleotide probes derived from the ATP-binding domain sequence of the E. coli K-12 gene. These last results demonstrate that the ATP-binding domain of the RecA protein has been strongly conserved for greater than 10(7) years.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge 02139.
authors.forename: K L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Knight
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Hess
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: McEntee
mesh_terms: D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000378:metabolism*; D000345:Affinity Labels; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001386:Azides / Q000378:metabolism; D001483:Base Sequence; D001665:Binding Sites; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000378:metabolism; D004885:Erwinia / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D010449:Peptide Mapping; D010777:Photochemistry; D011514:Proteus vulgaris / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D011938:Rec A Recombinases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D012763:Shigella flexneri / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D000345:Affinity Labels; D001386:Azides; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; C017040:8-azidoadenosine 5'-triphosphate; D000255:Adenosine Triphosphate; D011938:Rec A Recombinases