title: Cloning of the Dam methyltransferase gene from Haemophilus influenzae bacteriophage HP1.
abstract: The putative product of orf13 from the genome of Haemophilus influenzae HP1 bacteriophage shows homology only to bacteriophage T1 Dam methyltransferase, and a weak similarity to the conserved amino acids sequence motifs characteristic of m6A-methyltransferases. Especially interesting is lack of characteristic motif I responsible for binding of S-adenosylmethionine. Despite this fact, a DNA sequence of HP1 bacteriophage of Haemophilus influenzae encoding methyltransferase activity was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli using pMPMT4 omega expression vector. The cloned methyltransferase recognizes the sequence 5'-GATC-3' and methylates an adenine residue. The enzyme methylates both double- and single-stranded DNA substrates.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Microbiology, Warsaw University, Poland.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Piekarowicz
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bujnicki
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001435:Bacteriophages / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics*; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D016384:Consensus Sequence; D005814:Genes, Viral; D005822:Genetic Vectors; D006193:Haemophilus influenzae / Q000821:virology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016366:Open Reading Frames; D012436:S-Adenosylmethionine / Q000378:metabolism; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D015265:Site-Specific DNA-Methyltransferase (Adenine-Specific) / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D012436:S-Adenosylmethionine; C058693:Dam methyltransferase; D015265:Site-Specific DNA-Methyltransferase (Adenine-Specific)