Journal
PROTEIN SCIENCE
Volume 20, Issue 6, Pages 1005-1020Publisher
WILEY-BLACKWELL
DOI: 10.1002/pro.633
Keywords
single stranded DNA binding protein (SSB); fluorescent reporter; DNA replication; DNA repair; DNA recombination
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Funding
- Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation [BCTR0601350]
- National Institutes of Health [R24 GM 080599, R24 GM080599]
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The Escherichia coli single-stranded DNA binding protein (SSB) is a central player in DNA metabolism where it organizes genome maintenance complexes and stabilizes single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) intermediates generated during DNA processing. Due to the importance of SSB and to facilitate real-time studies, we developed a dual plasmid expression system to produce novel, chimeric SSB proteins. These chimeras, which contain mixtures of histidine-tagged and fluorescent protein(FP)-fusion subunits, are easily purified in milligram quantities and used without further modification, a significant enhancement over previous methods to produce fluorescent SSB. Chimeras retain the functionality of wild type in all assays, demonstrating that SSB function is unaffected by the FPs. We demonstrate the power and utility of these chimeras in single molecule studies providing a great level of insight into the biochemical mechanism of RecBCD. We also utilized the chimeras to show for the first time that RecG and SSB interact in vivo. Consequently, we anticipate that the chimeras described herein will facilitate in vivo, in vitro and single DNA molecule studies using proteins that do not require further modification prior to use.
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