CLEAVAGE OF DNA BY N-PHOSPHORYL HISTIDINE

DNA cleavage by N-(O,O-diisopropyl)phosphoryl histidine(DIPP-His) is i nvestigated by a submarine agarose electrophoresis technique. It was f ound that DIPP-His could cleave supercoiled DNAs and lambda DNA withou t the participation of divalent metal ions, while the histidine itself and N-(O,O-diisopropyl)phosphoryl alanine had no such function. Super coiled pUC8 and pBR322 DNAs are cleaved to linear DNA and eventually f ragments; lambda DNA is cleaved directly to fragments. Two mechanistic pathways are proposed for the cleavage reaction. (C) 1995 Academic Pr ess. Inc.