Synthesis of compositionally unique DNA by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase

Studies on the composition and characterization of DNA product(s) synthesized by calf thymus terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase were performed using homopolymeric single-stranded, calf thymus double-stranded, and native DNA resident in calf thymus chromatin preparations as priming DNA species. Synthesis was carried out using equimolar concentrations of all four deoxynucleoside triphosphates as substrates and Mg2+ or Mn2+ as an effective divalent cation. Irrespective of the nature of the priming DNA or the divalent cation, the DNA product contained 60-70% dGMP residues, 10-15% each of the two pyrimidine residues, and 5-10% dAMP residues. The product synthesized using chromatin DNA as initiator was predominantly single-stranded and its synthesis was resistant to actinomycin D. The predilection of terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase to synthesize dGMP-rich products on natural or homopolymeric DNA primers suggests that such products may represent biologically important recognition signal sequences.