Joseph Dominic Ceccoli

Polyclonal antibodies against O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase in adapted bacteria

The similarity of the adaptive response and the methyltransferase component in bacterial strains from different phylogenic groups was investigated. An adaptive response with induction of transferase activity was found for the first time in the soil bacteria P. aeruginosa and X. maltophilia. Polyclonal antibodies against the E. coli ada protein were used to investigate the structural similarity of the transferases from several bacterial strains with adaptive responses and inducible transferase activity. These antibodies cross-reacted with transferase from M. luteus and P. aeruginosa but not with proteins from other related bacteria, and not with human transferase. The phylogenic relationships of bacteria with adaptive responses suggest that the response likely was present in the common ancestor of eubacteria. The restricted antibody cross-reactivity may reflect the dual role of the E. coli ada protein not only in DNA repair but in positive gene regulation.

COMPARISON OF PHAGE T4 denV ENDONUCLEASE V AND M. Luteus UV‐DNA ENDONUCLEASE BY SEROLOGY AND DNA HYBRIDIZATION

Abstract Antibodies were raised in rabbits against purified endonuclease V, the product of the bacteriophage T4 denV gene, which incises DNA at the site of UV‐induced pyrimidine dimers. These antibodies cross‐reacted with the purified UV‐DNA endonuclease from M. luteus in both enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay and Western assays. However, no sequence similarity was detected between the denV gene and M. luteus DNA by hybridization. The two endonucleaes are remarkably similar in enzymatic activity, and their antigenic similarities have been preserved despite differences in their DNA sequences.