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. 1996 Oct 15;24(20):3926–3933. doi: 10.1093/nar/24.20.3926

Drosophila Rrp1 3'-exonuclease: demonstration of DNA sequence dependence and DNA strand specificity.

M Sander 1, D Benhaim 1
PMCID: PMC146189  PMID: 8918793

Abstract

Drosophila Rrp1 (recombination repair protein 1) is a DNA repair enzyme whose nuclease activities include AP-endonuclease, 3'-exonuclease, 3'-phosphodiesterase and 3'-phosphatase. This study investigates the sequence specificity of the dsDNA 3'-exonuclease activity of Rrp1. We demonstrate that the activity is more efficient in purine-rich regions of dsDNA than in pyrimidine-rich regions. Rrp1 exonuclease activity is examined at 3'-terminal homopurine or homopyrimidine tracts, at junctions between purine- and pyrimidine-rich sequences and upon encountering repeated dinucleotide runs. The data show that purine-purine and 3'-pyrimidine-5'-purine dinucleotide bonds are cleaved faster than 3'-purine-5'-pyrimidine or pyrimidine-pyrimidine bonds. Thus, the base occupying the penultimate position in the 3'-terminal dinucleotide may be important in determining the relative efficiency of bond cleavage by Rrp1. These findings may reflect upon specific DNA-protein interactions in the enzyme active site.

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Selected References

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