A. Timinskas et al., SEQUENCE MOTIFS CHARACTERISTIC FOR DNA [CYTOSINE-N4] AND DNA [ADENINE-N6] METHYLTRANSFERASES - CLASSIFICATION OF ALL DNA METHYLTRANSFERASES, Gene, 157(1-2), 1995, pp. 3-11
Two additional conserved motifs (CM), CM Is and CM III, have been foun
d in addition to well-known CM I and CM II within the primary amino ac
id sequences of almost all m(6)A- and m(4)C-methyltransferases (MTases
). The boundaries of all four CM were defined and their consensus sequ
ences characteristic both for different classes, as well as for all N-
MTases, were derived. Some regular deviations at fixed positions of th
e consensus sequences CM Is, CM I and CM II, typical for separate clas
ses of N-MTases, were presumed to correlate. A possible structural bas
is for the supposed interregional correlations is discussed and experi
ments for verification of the assumed interactions between CM are sugg
ested. A classification scheme for all N-MTases is provided.