Open AccessCharacterization of a plasmid replicative origin from an extreme thermophile
Author(s) -
Grado Myriam,
Lasa Iñigo,
Berenguer José
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
fems microbiology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.899
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1574-6968
pISSN - 0378-1097
DOI - 10.1111/j.1574-6968.1998.tb13126.x
Subject(s) - plasmid , biology , thermus , dna , genetics , coding region , microbiology and biotechnology , nucleic acid sequence , origin of replication , thermophile , gene , bacteria
The minimal replicative origin from a 16‐kbp natural plasmid of Thermus sp. ATCC 27737 is described. The 1798‐bp sequence encodes a single protein (RepA) whose expression is required for replication. This requirement is extended to 200 bp upstream the coding region, which contains promoter‐like sequences transcriptionally active in E. coli . Despite the absence of typical iterons, we show that an N‐terminal fragment of this protein binds to a DNA fragment internal to its own coding sequence. As this DNA fragment contains an unusually A+T rich sequence surrounded by C+G rich stretches, the possible location of the replicative origin within the region encoding RepA is proposed.