Purification and characterization of the dnaA46 gene product

The alleles of dnaA46, dnaA5, and dnaA204 have been cloned from the Escherichia coli chromosome into a protein-overproducing vector. Under conditions of induced expression, similar amounts of dnaA46 and dnaA5 gene products and less of the dnaA204 gene product were observed. Facilitated by elevated expression levels, an improved method for purification of dnaA+ protein and the purification of dnaA46 protein have been obtained. The replication activity of dnaA46 protein did not appear to be thermolabile upon prior incubation at various temperatures. Thermolabile replication activity was observed under conditions of coupled DNA synthesis. In contrast with the wild type protein, DNA synthesis dependent on dnaA46 protein showed a pronounced lag before incorporation of deoxyribonucleotides.