Transcription of T7 DNA containing modified nucleotides by bacteriophage T7 specific RNA polymerase

The interaction of bacteriophage T7 specific RNA polymerase with its cognate promoter sites has been probed by selectively replacing bases in one T7 promoter site with base analogs. Base analogs such as 2,6-diaminopurine or hypoxanthine, which alter residues appearing in the minor groove of the DNA helix, prevent utilization of the promoter by T7 RNA polymerase. These analogs do not affect transcription which starts outside of the modified region. In contrast, base analogs that have alterations that appear in the major groove of the DNA helix, such as uracil, 5-bromouracil, 5-methylcytosine, 5-hydroxymethylcytosine, and [5-HgSR]pyrimidines, do not prevent utilization of the promoter. The deoxyribonucleoside analog 5'-imino-5'-deoxythymidine, an alteration appearing in the deoxyribose-phosphodiester backbone of the DNA helix, does not prevent promoter recognition. Haemophilus aegyptius restriction endonuclease III, which cleaves DNA at the sequence 5'GGCC3', does not act at sites in which the guanine residues in one of the two DNA strands have been substituted with hypoxanthine. This implicates the guanine amino group in the minor groove of the DNA helix as a possible recognition point for this restriction endonuclease.