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Study of the VirE2-ssT-DNA Complex Formation by Scanning Probe Microscopy and Gel Electrophoresis— T-Complex Visualization

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 January 2007

Irina Volokhina
Affiliation:
Agrobacterial Transformation and Biotechnology Laboratory, Institute of Biochemistry and Physiology of Plants and Microorganisms, Russian Academy of Sciences, 13 Prospekt Entuziastov, Saratov 410049, Russia Saratov State University, Faculty of Nonlinear Processes, Biophysics Department, 150 Ulitsa Moskovskaya, Saratov 410006, Russia
Mikhail Chumakov
Affiliation:
Agrobacterial Transformation and Biotechnology Laboratory, Institute of Biochemistry and Physiology of Plants and Microorganisms, Russian Academy of Sciences, 13 Prospekt Entuziastov, Saratov 410049, Russia Saratov State University, Faculty of Nonlinear Processes, Biophysics Department, 150 Ulitsa Moskovskaya, Saratov 410006, Russia
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Abstract

The recombinant virulence protein VirE2, capable of forming a complex with single-stranded T-DNA during transfer into plant cells, was isolated, purified, and used for interactions with ssT-DNA. The in vitro interaction of VirE2 and ss-binding protein from Escherichia coli with single-stranded DNA (phage λ) was determined by agarose gel electrophoresis by the formation of high-molecular-weight complexes after preliminary coincubation of purified protein preparations with ssDNA. We show that VirE2 binds to single-stranded DNA and protects it against nuclease S1 degradation much better than does E. coli SSB protein. We for first time observed the VirE2-ssT-DNA complex by using atomic force microscopy. The complex observed by atomic force microscopy after ssT-DNA and VirE2 protein mixing has a length of about 800 nm and a 5–8 nm width in sites with attached VirE2 protein.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
2007 Microscopy Society of America

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References

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