title: Calf thymus DNA polymerases alpha and delta are capable of highly processive DNA synthesis.
abstract: We have demonstrated that calf thymus DNA polymerases alpha and delta are capable of highly processive DNA synthesis. Processivity values between 300 and 2000 nucleotides were observed when poly(dA)-oligo(dT) or singly primed single-stranded circular bacteriophage M13 DNA at pH 6.0 and 1 mM magnesium chloride was used. These conditions do not correlate with conditions, pH 7.0 and 5 mM magnesium chloride, that support the maximum synthetic rate. Lowering the pH and magnesium concentration lowers the Km value of the reaction with respect to primer terminus concentration. Furthermore, under these same conditions, both polymerases become insensitive to dissociation from the template as a result of encountering the 5' ends of primers. Overall, these results suggest that the affinity of the polymerases for the primer termini is higher throughout the polymerization reaction of pH and magnesium concentrations are lowered from those favoring maximum synthetic rate. Experiments with short primer templates, however, indicate that this higher affinity does not cause the DNA polymerase to remain stably bound after synthesizing up to the end of the template.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, New York 14642.
authors.forename: R D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Sabatino
authors.forename: T W
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Myers
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Bambara
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Kwon-Shin
authors.forename: R L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Marraccino
authors.forename: P H
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Frickey
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D004247:DNA / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D004257:DNA Polymerase II / Q000378:metabolism*; D004258:DNA Polymerase III; D004261:DNA Replication; D004259:DNA-Directed DNA Polymerase / Q000378:metabolism*; D007700:Kinetics; D013698:Templates, Genetic; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000201:enzymology*
chemical_list: D004247:DNA; D004257:DNA Polymerase II; D004258:DNA Polymerase III; D004259:DNA-Directed DNA Polymerase