title: Repeat units from a maize rDNA external spacer region exhibit DNA curvature and interact with high-mobility-group proteins.
abstract: The 3-kb external spacer from a maize (Zea mays L. cv. A619) nuclear rRNA gene unit which contains nine highly homologous 200-bp repeat elements was found to include a region with DNA-curvature properties. The centre of curvature was localized within repeats 5 and 6 using a circular permutation assay. A 60-bp-long subfragment of this region was found to interact with nuclear proteins, including high-mobility-group (HMG) proteins, and with the maize HMGa protein synthesized in Escherichia coli from a recombinant plasmid. The potential influence of the binding of the HMG proteins on the conformation of this subfragment was studied with a permutation assay based on a bending vector.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Biologie III, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, FRG.
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Griess
authors.forename: K D
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Grasser
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Feix
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D004926:Escherichia coli; D006609:High Mobility Group Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D011485:Protein Binding; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D012091:Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid; D003313:Zea mays / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D004275:DNA, Ribosomal; D006609:High Mobility Group Proteins; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D010940:Plant Proteins; D011994:Recombinant Proteins