FIGURE 2.

Stability of the strand exchange reaction substrates and products. A, direct (2) and reverse (1 and 3) strand exchange reactions were performed in conditions identical to those used for RecA-promoted reactions but in the absence of the protein. Mismatch containing (3) and completely homologous (1 and 2) pairs of oligonucleotide substrates were used. For comparison purposes, the kinetic curve for reverse RecA-promoted strand exchange reaction is presented (4). B and C, comparison of spontaneous (2) and RecA-promoted (1) reverse strand exchange between mismatch containing pairs of oligonucleotide substrates at different temperatures.