title: Optimised ligation of oligonucleotides by thermal ligases: comparison of Thermus scotoductus and Rhodothermus marinus DNA ligases to other thermophilic ligases.
abstract: We describe the characterisation of four thermo-stable NAD(+)-dependent DNA ligases, from Thermus thermophilus (Tth), Thermus scotoductus (Ts), Rhodothermus marinus (Rm) and Thermus aquaticus (Taq), by an assay which measures ligation rate and mismatch discrimination. Complete libraries of octa-, nona- and decanucleotides were used as substrates. The assay comprised the polymerisation of oligo-nucleotides initiated from a 17 base 'primer', using M13mp18 ssDNA as template. Polymers of ligation products were analysed by polyacrylamide gel electro-phoresis. Under optimum conditions, the enzymes produced polymers ranging from 8 to 16 additions; there was variation between enzymes and the length of the oligonucleotides had a strong effect. The optimal total oligonucleotide concentration for each library was approximately 4 nmol. We compared the rates of ligation between the four ligases using an octanucleotide library as substrate. By this criterion, the Ts and Rm ligases are far more active compared to the more commonly available thermostable ligases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QU, UK. housby@bioch.ox.ac.uk
authors.forename: J N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Housby
authors.forename: S H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Thorbjarnardóttir
authors.forename: Z O
authors.initials: ZO
authors.lastname: Jónsson
authors.forename: E M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Southern
mesh_terms: D019414:Chlorobi / Q000201:enzymology*; D011088:DNA Ligases / Q000378:metabolism*; D017931:DNA Primers; D004277:DNA, Single-Stranded / Q000378:metabolism; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000378:metabolism; D015723:Gene Library; D009838:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides / Q000378:metabolism; D013379:Substrate Specificity; D013824:Thermus / Q000201:enzymology*
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D004277:DNA, Single-Stranded; D004279:DNA, Viral; D009838:Oligodeoxyribonucleotides; D011088:DNA Ligases