Normal DNA ligase activity in a gamma-ray-sensitive Chinese hamster mutant

A Chinese hamster cell mutant (XR-1) was previously described that is extremely deficient in the repair of double-strand DNA breaks produced by gamma-irradiation during the sensitive G1--early-S period and somewhat deficient in repair of gamma-ray-induced single-strand DNA breaks. To determine whether a deficiency in DNA ligase activity might underlie the biochemical defect, protein extracts from mutant and parental cells were examined for their ability to ligate single- and double-strand breaks in DNA. The kinetics of ligation of single 5'-phosphate-3'-hydroxyl breaks in double-stranded DNA were the same in protein extracts from both cells. After separation of protein extracts by gel-filtration chromatography, the percentage of activity in the large and small molecular forms of DNA ligase was also similar in the two cells. Finally, protein extracts prepared from exponentially growing or G1-synchronized mutant and parental cells were equal in their ability to ligate blunt-end DNA substrates. These data suggest that a deficiency in DNA ligase is not the cause of the repair defect in the XR-1 mutant cell.