Functional domains of an ATP-dependent DNA ligase

The crystal structure of an ATP-dependent DNA ligase from bacteriophage T7 revealed that the protein comprised two structural domains. In order to investigate the biochemical activities of these domains, we have overexpressed them separately and purified them to homogeneity. The larger N-terminal domain retains adenylation and ligase activities, though both at a reduced level. The adenylation activity of the large domain is stimulated by the presence of the smaller domain, suggesting that a conformational change is required for adenylation in the full length protein. The DNA binding properties of the two fragments have also been studied. The larger domain is able to band shift both single and double-stranded DNA, while the smaller fragment is only able to bind to double-stranded DNA. These data suggest that the specificity of DNA ligases for nick sites in DNA is produced by a combination of these different DNA binding activities in the intact enzyme.