Recombining DNA by protein swivels

Control of directionality in Streptomyces phage φBT1 integrase-mediated site-specific recombination

Streptomyces phage φBT1 integrates its genome into the attB site of the host chromosome with the attP site to generate attL and attR. The φBT1 integrase belongs to the large serine recombinase subfamily which directly binds to target sites to initiate double strand breakage and exchange. A recombination directionality factor (RDF) is commonly required for switching integration to excision. Here we report the characterization of the RDF protein for φBT1 recombination. The RDF, is a phage-encoded gp3 gene product (28 KDa), which allows efficient active excision between attL and attR, and inhibits integration between attB and attP; Gp3 can also catalyze topological relaxation with the integrase of supercoiled plasmids containing a single excision site. Further study showed that Gp3 could form a dimer and interact with the integrase whether it bound to the substrate or not. The synapse formation of attL or attR alone with integrase and Gp3 showed that synapsis did not discriminate between the two sites, indicating that complementarity of central dinucleotides is the sole determinant of outcome in correct excision synapses. Furthermore, both in vitro and in vivo evidence support that the RDFs of φBT1 and φC31 were fully exchangeable, despite the low amino acid sequence identity of the two integrases.

The site-specific integration reaction of Listeria phage A118 integrase, a serine recombinase

Background

A large subfamily of serine recombinases contains long polypeptide segments appended to the C-terminal end of the conserved catalytic domain. Members of this subfamily often function as phage integrases but also mediate transposition and regulate terminal differentiation processes in eubacteria. Although a few members of this subfamily have been studied in purified in vitro systems, key mechanistic aspects of reactions promoted by these recombinases remain to be determined, particularly with respect to the functions of the large C-terminal domain.

Results

We have developed and characterized a robust in vitro recombination reaction by the Listeria phage A118 integrase, a member of the subfamily of serine recombinases containing a large C-terminal domain. The reaction occurs in a simple buffered salt solution and exhibits a modest stimulation by divalent cations or spermidine and DNA supercoiling. Recombination with purified A118 integrase is unidirectional, being efficient only between attP and attB DNA sites to either join separate DNA molecules (intermolecular recombination) or to generate deletions or inversions depending on the relative orientation of att sites in cis (intramolecular recombination). The minimal attP site is 50 bp but requires only 44 bp of base sequence information, whereas the minimal attB site is 42 bp and requires 38 bp of base sequence information. DNA exchange occurs between the central 2 bp of attP and attB. Identity between these two base pairs is required for recombination, and they solely determine the orientation of recombination sites. The integrase dimer binds efficiently to full att sites, including the attL and attR integration products, but poorly and differentially to each half-site. The large C-terminal domain can be separated from the N-terminal catalytic by partial proteolysis and mediates non-cooperative DNA binding to att sites.

Conclusions

The basic properties of the phage A118 integrase reaction and its substrate requirements have been elucidated. A118 integrase thus joins the handful of biochemically characterized serine integrases that are serving as models for mechanistic studies on this important class of recombinases. Information reported here will also be useful in exploiting this recombinase for genetic engineering.