Conserved residues in the delta subunit help the E. coli clamp loader, gamma complex, target primer-template DNA for clamp assembly.

ABSTRACT: The Escherichia coli clamp loader, gamma complex (gamma(3)deltadelta'lambdapsi), catalyzes ATP-driven assembly of beta clamps onto primer-template DNA (p/tDNA), enabling processive replication. The mechanism by which gamma complex targets p/tDNA for clamp assembly is not resolved. According to previous studies, charged/polar amino acids inside the clamp loader chamber interact with the double-stranded (ds) portion of p/tDNA. We find that dsDNA, not ssDNA, can trigger a burst of ATP hydrolysis by gamma complex and clamp assembly, but only at far higher concentrations than p/tDNA. Thus, contact between gamma complex and dsDNA is necessary and sufficient, but not optimal, for the reaction, and additional contacts with p/tDNA likely facilitate its selection as the optimal substrate for clamp a

SUBMITTER: Chen S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2425476 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature