The objective of this project is to use bacteriophage PRD1 System, as a model, to investigate the mechanism of linear DNA replication. One of the major gaps in our knowledge of DNA replication is the mechanism by which the 5'-ends of linear duplex DNA are replicated. Since none of the known DNA polymerases can initiate de novo synthesis of DNA chains, the elucidation of the primer forming mechanism is crucial to our understanding of DNA replication. The genome of PRD1 is replicated by a protein-priming mechanism which preserves the 5'-end of the linear DNA. The PRD1 terminal protein (primer protein) and DNA polymerase are the smallest known proteins involved in linear DNA replication. For detailed structure-function analysis of these proteins, it is proposed that large quantities of the homogeneous terminal protein be prepared for crystallization, that sub- domain fragments be produced for solution NMR analysis and that site- specific mutants of terminal protein and DNA polymerase be constructed and analyzed.
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