title: Ca(2+)-mediated site-specific DNA cleavage and suppression of promiscuous activity of KpnI restriction endonuclease.
abstract: The characteristic feature of type II restriction endonucleases (REases) is their exquisite sequence specificity and obligate Mg(2+) requirement for catalysis. Efficient cleavage of DNA only in the presence of Ca(2+) ions, comparable with that of Mg(2+), is previously not described. Most intriguingly, KpnI REase exhibits Ca(2+)-dependent specific DNA cleavage. Moreover, the enzyme is highly promiscuous in its cleavage pattern on plasmid DNAs in the presence of Mn(2+) or Mg(2+), with the complete suppression of promiscuous activity in the presence of Ca(2+). KpnI methyltransferase does not exhibit promiscuous activity unlike its cognate REase. The REase binds to oligonucleotides containing canonical and mapped noncanonical sites with comparable affinities. However, the extent of cleavage is varied depending on the metal ion and the sequence. The ability of the enzyme to be promiscuous or specific may reflect an evolutionary design. Based on the results, we suggest that the enzyme KpnI represents an REase evolving to attain higher sequence specificity from an ancient nonspecific nuclease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560 012 and Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore 560 064, India.
authors.forename: Siddamadappa
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chandrashekaran
authors.forename: Matheshwaran
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Saravanan
authors.forename: Deshpande R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Radha
authors.forename: Valakunja
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Nagaraja
mesh_terms: D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism*; D004247:DNA / Q000378:metabolism*; D015252:Deoxyribonucleases, Type II Site-Specific / Q000378:metabolism*; D024202:Electrophoretic Mobility Shift Assay; D007711:Klebsiella pneumoniae / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D013379:Substrate Specificity
chemical_list: D004247:DNA; D015252:Deoxyribonucleases, Type II Site-Specific; C029312:GGTACC-specific type II deoxyribonucleases; D002118:Calcium