Systematic analysis of specificities and flanking sequence preferences of bacterial DNA-(cytosine C5)-methyltransferases reveals mechanisms of enzyme- and sequence-specific DNA readout.

ABSTRACT: DNA-(cytosine C5)-methyltransferases (MTases) represent a large group of evolutionary related enzymes with specific DNA interaction. We systematically investigated the specificity and flanking sequence preferences of six bacterial enzymes of this class and many MTase mutants. We observed high (>1000-fold) target sequence specificity reflecting strong evolutionary pressure against unspecific DNA methylation. Strong flanking sequence preferences (∼100-fold) were observed which changed for methylation of near-cognate sites suggesting that the DNA structures in the transition states of the methylation of these sites differ. Mutation of amino acids involved in DNA contacts led to local changes of specificity and flanking sequence preferences, but also global effects indicating that larger confo

SUBMITTER: Sogl G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11879396 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature