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. 1989 Nov;86(22):8877–8881. doi: 10.1073/pnas.86.22.8877

Escherichia coli mutY gene encodes an adenine glycosylase active on G-A mispairs.

K G Au 1, S Clark 1, J H Miller 1, P Modrich 1
PMCID: PMC298393  PMID: 2682664

Abstract

Mutations in the mutY gene of Escherichia coli confer hypermutability reflecting G.C to T.A transversion mutations and result in a deficiency in methyl-independent G-A to G.C mismatch correction. In the present work, the mutY product has been purified to near homogeneity by virtue of its ability to restore G-A to G.C mismatch correction to cell-free extracts of a mutS mutY strain. The 36-kDa protein renders the strand containing the mispaired adenine labile to base-catalyzed cleavage and sensitive to cleavage by several apurinic/apyrimidinic-site endonucleases, with the sites of strand scission by both agents corresponding to the location of the mismatch. These findings indicate that MutY is a DNA glycosylase that hydrolyzes the glycosyl bond linking the mis-paired adenine to deoxyribose. MutY, a 5'-apurinic/apyrimidinic-site endonuclease, DNA polymerase I, and DNA ligase are sufficient to reconstitute MutY-dependent G-A to G.C repair in vitro.

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Selected References

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