Abstract
The study of plant DNA polymerases lags far behind that concerning their animal or yeast counterpart. In this work we describe the first extensive purification to apparent homogeneity, as well as a detailed biochemical and immunological characterization, of a low molecular weight DNA polymerase (DNA polymerase CI) purified from wheat embryos. The monomeric enzyme is a basic protein having a molecular weight of 52 kDa. Polyclonal antibodies raised in rabbits against DNA polymerase CI did not inhibit animal DNA polymerases α and β or wheat DNA polymerase A, whereas wheat DNA polymerases CII and B were much less affected than the CI enzyme. Several properties of enzyme CI were studied. Some known inhibitors of DNA polymerase activity including aphidicolin, phosphonoacetic acid and heparin, did not affect DNA polymerase CI while the activity of this enzyme was strongly inhibited by ddTTP and N-ethylmaleimide. The polyamine spermine decreased markedly the enzyme activity, while spermidine produced a strong stimulation at the same concentrations that spermine inhibited the enzyme. The best template for this enzyme is poly dA-oligo dT, although polymerase CI can recognize significantly some synthetic polyribonucleotide templates (poly rC-oligo dG, poly rA-oligo dT) but only at a given protein/template primer ratio. The enzyme is blocked at the amino terminus, thus preventing the automatic sequencing of the protein. The amino acid analysis showed a striking similarity with the animal low molecular weight DNA polymerase β. The latter observation, as well as the effect of inhibitors (except N-ethylmaleimide which does not inhibit the animal polymerase) indicate that the DNA polymerase described in this work is a plant DNA polymerase very similar to the low molecular weight animal DNA polymerase β, an enzyme believed to be involved in nuclear DNA repair.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Allaudeen HS, Bertino JR: Inhibition of activities of DNA polymerases α, β, γ and reverse transcriptase of L1210 cells by phosphonoacetic acid. Biochim Biophys Acta 520: 490–497 (1978).
Bolden A, Aucker J, Weissbach A: Synthesis of herpes simplex virus, vaccinia virus, and adenovirus DNA in isolated HeLa cell nuclei. 1. Effect of viral-specific antisera and phosphonoacetic acid. J Virol 16: 1584–1592 (1975).
Bradford MM: A rapid and sensitive method for the quantitation of microgram quantities of protein utilising the principle of protein-dye binding. Anal Biochem 72: 248–254 (1976).
Bryant JA: Enzymology of nuclear DNA replication in plants. Crit Rev in Plant Sci 3: 169–199 (1986).
Burgers PMJ: Eukaryotic DNA polymerases α and δ: Conserved properties and interactions, from yeast to Mammalian cells. Progr Nucl Acid Res Mol Biol 37: 235–280 (1989).
Castroviejo M, Tharaud D, Tarrago-Litvak L, Litvak S: Multiple DNA polymerases from quiescent wheat embryos. Purification and characterization of three enzymes from the soluble cytoplasm and one from purified mitochondria. Biochem J 181: 183–191 (1979).
Chang LMS: Phylogeny of DNA polymerase β. J Biol Chem 248: 3789–3795 (1973).
Chiu JF, Sung SC: Effect of spermidine on the activity of DNA polymerases. Biochim Biophys Acta 281: 535–542 (1972).
Chivers HJ, Bryant JA: Molecular weights of the major DNA polymerases in a higher plant, Pisum sativum L. (pea). Biochem Biophys Res Com 110: 632–639 (1983).
Christophe L, Tarrago-Litvak L, Castroviejo M, Litvak S: Mitochondrial DNA polymerase from wheat embryos. Plant Sci Lett 21: 181–192 (1981).
Dunham VL, Bryant JA: DNA polymerase activities in healthy and cauliflower mosaic virus-infected turnip (Brassica rapa) plants. Ann Bot 57: 81–89 (1986).
Gardner JM, Kado CI: High molecular weight DNA polymerase from crown gall tumor cells of periwinkle. Biochemistry 15: 688–697 (1976).
Graveline J, Tarrago-Litvak L, Castroviejo M, Litvak S: DNA primase activity from wheat embryos. Plant Mol Biol 3: 207–215 (1984).
Gronenborn B, Matzeit V: Plant gene vectors and genetic transformation: Plant viruses as vectors. In: Vasil IK, Schell J (eds) Cell Culture and Somatic Cell Genetics of Plants vol 6: 69–100. Academic Press, San Diego (1989).
Kornberg A: DNA Replication and 1982 Supplement. Freeman. San Francisco (1980, 1982).
Kunkel TA, Tscheng JE, Meyer RR: Purification and properties of DNA polymerase β from guinea pig liver. Biochim Biophys Acta 520: 302–316 (1978).
Laemmli UK: Cleavage of structural proteins during the assembly of the head of bacteriophage T4. Nature 227: 680–685 (1970).
Laquel P, Sallafranque-Andreola ML, Tarrago-Litvak L, Castroviejo M, Litvak S: Wheat DNA polymerase A reverse transcribes natural and synthetic RNA templates. Biochemical characterization and comparison with animal DNA polymerase γ and retroviral reverse transcriptase. Biochim Biophys Acta 1048: 139–1248 (1990).
Litvak S, Castroviejo M: DNA polymerases from plant cells. Mut Res 181: 81–91 (1987).
Martin RG, Ames BN: A new method for determining the sedimentation behavior of enzymes: applications to protein mixtures. J Biol Chem 236: 1372–1379 (1961).
Matsudaira P: Sequence from picomole quantities of proteins electroblotted onto polyvinylidene difluoride membranes. J Biol Chem 262: 10035–10038 (1987).
Misumi M, Weissbach A: The isolation and characterization of DNA polymerase α from spinach. J Biol Chem 257: 2323–2329 (1982).
Sakaguchi K, Hotta Y, Stern H: Chromatin-associated DNA polymerase activity in meiotic cells of Lily and Mouse: its stimulation by meiotic helix-destabilizing protein. Cell Struct Funct 5: 323–334 (1980).
Salinovich O, Montelaro RC: Reversible staining and peptide mapping of proteins transferred to nitrocellulose after separation by SDS-PAGE. Anal Biochem 156: 341–347 (1986).
Sedwick WD, Wang TS-F, Korn D: Purification and properties of nuclear and cytoplasmic DNA polymerases from human KB cells. J Biol Chem 247: 5026–5033 (1972).
Shimada T, Yamada M, Miwa M, Nagano H, Mano Y: Differential susceptibilities of DNA polymerase α and β to polyanions. Nucl Acids Res 5: 3427–3438 (1978).
Spadari S, Sala F, Pedrali-Noy G: Aphidicolin: a specific inhibitor of nuclear DNA replication in eukaryotes. Trends Biochem Sci 6: 29–32 (1982).
Stalker DM, Mosbaugh DW: Novikoff hepatoma DNA polymerase Purification and properties of a homogeneous β polymerase. Biochemistry 15: 3114–3121 (1976).
Stavrianopoulos JG, Karkas JD, Chargaff E: DNA polymerase of chicken embryo: purification and properties. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 69: 1781–1785 (1972).
Stevens C, Bryant JA, Wyvill PC: Chromatin-bound DNA polymerase from higher plants. A DNA polymerase β-like enzyme. Planta 143: 113–120 (1978).
Tarrago-Litvak L, Castroviejo M, Litvak S: Studies on a DNA polymerase γ-like enzyme from wheat embryos. FEBS Lett 59: 125–130 (1975).
Towbin H, Staehelin T, Gordon J: Electrophoretic transfer of proteins from polyacrylamide gels to nitrocellulose sheets: procedure and some applications. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 76: 4350–4354 (1979).
Tymonko JM, Dunham VL: Evidence for DNA polymerase α and β activity in sugar beet. Physiol Plant 40: 27–30 (1977).
Weissbach A: Cellular and viral induced DNA polymerases. In: The Enzymes, Vol 14, pp. 67–86. Academic Press, New York (1981).
Yamaguchi M, Chou MY, Matsumoto H, Fukasawa H: Partial purification and characterization of DNA polymerases from the cauliflower inflorescence. Jpn J Genet 54: 97–108 (1979).
Zmuzdka BZ, Sengupta D, Matsukage A, Cobianchi F, Kumar P, Wilson SH: Structure of rat polymerase β revealed by partial amino acid sequencing and cDNA cloning. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 83: 5106–5110 (1986).
Zourgui L, Tharaud D, Solari A, Litvak S, Tarrago-Litvak L: Ap4A-mediated stimulation of DNA synthesis in extracts from Xenopus laevis oocytes. Biochim Biophys Acta 846: 2312–2323 (1986).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Castroviejo, M., Gatius, MT. & Litvak, S. A low molecular weight DNA polymerase from wheat embryos. Plant Mol Biol 15, 383–397 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00019156
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00019156