The long term objective of this research is to gain insight as to how methyltransferases function in different organisms. Characterization of the Bacillus methyltransferases can allow us to determine the mechanism by which these enzymes recognize their target sequence. These kind of studies also aid in determining how other proteins interact and interpret the information in methylated DNA. This is most apparent with the recent development in DNA repair were proteins which specifically recognize methylated DNA have been found. Understanding of the methylation process, its mechanism of action, and the protein involved can aid in the manipulation of other systems, with the objective of better understanding how methylation serves as a regulatory signal. The recent crystallization of a methyltransferase has suggested that these proteins evolved from repair enzymes. It would be interesting to establish if these N-4 Methyltransferases from Bacillus have similar mechanism to the C-5 and N- 6 methyltransferases.
