We have developed a simple and efficient method for in vitro mutagenesis and recombination of polynucleotide sequences. The staggered extension process (StEP) consists of priming the template sequence(s) followed by repeated cycles of denaturation and extremely abbreviated annealing/polymerase-catalyzed extension. In each cycle the growing fragments anneal to different templates based on sequence complementarity and extend further. This is repeated until full-length sequences form. Due to template switching, most of the polynucleotides contain sequence information from different parental sequences. The method is demonstrated by the recombination of two genes encoding thermostable subtilisins carrying two phenotypic markers separated by 113 base pairs and eight other point mutation markers. To demonstrate its utility for directed evolution, we have used StEP to recombine a set of five thermostabilized subtilisin E variants identified during a single round of error-prone PCR mutagenesis and screening. Screening the StEP-recombined library yielded an enzyme whose half-life at 65 degrees C is 50 times that of wild-type subtilisin E.

The hydrolytic haloalkane dehalogenases are promising bioremediation and biocatalytic agents. Two general classes of dehalogenases have been reported from Xanthobacter and Rhodococcus. While these enzymes share 30% amino acid sequence identity, they have significantly different substrate specificities and halide-binding properties. We report the 1.5 A resolution crystal structure of the Rhodococcus dehalogenase at pH 5.5, pH 7.0, and pH 5.5 in the presence of NaI. The Rhodococcus and Xanthobacter enzymes have significant structural homology in the alpha/beta hydrolase core, but differ considerably in the cap domain. Consistent with its broad specificity for primary, secondary, and cyclic haloalkanes, the Rhodococcus enzyme has a substantially larger active site cavity. Significantly, the Rhodococcus dehalogenase has a different catalytic triad topology than the Xanthobacter enzyme. In the Xanthobacter dehalogenase, the third carboxylate functionality in the triad is provided by D260, which is positioned on the loop between beta7 and the penultimate helix. The carboxylate functionality in the Rhodococcus catalytic triad is donated from E141. A model of the enzyme cocrystallized with sodium iodide shows two iodide binding sites; one that defines the normal substrate and product-binding site and a second within the active site region. In the substrate and product complexes, the halogen binds to the Xanthobacter enzyme via hydrogen bonds with the N(eta)H of both W125 and W175. The Rhodococcusenzyme does not have a tryptophan analogous to W175. Instead, bound halide is stabilized with hydrogen bonds to the N(eta)H of W118 and to N(delta)H of N52. It appears that when cocrystallized with NaI the Rhodococcus enzyme has a rare stable S-I covalent bond to S(gamma) of C187.

Medical Computer Specialist, M.D. Board-certified with 15 years of primary care clinical expcrience in hospital and ambulatory settings. Areas of mterest indude enhancement of health care productivity, quality assessmcnt, database utilization and application. Secks industry, government, or academic position in research, management consulting, or teaching. Prefer Arizona, Southwest. Box 187, SCIENCE. Plant Patholoist (Ph.D., 1967). Twenty-one years of expenence wortng in the Caribbean region on a wide range of crops, particularly tomato, bean, peanut, pigeon pea, cowpea, kenaf, citrus, yam', papaya. Considerable experience in: systems of fungicide application, bacterial wilt caused by Ps. solanacearum, disease diagnosis, teaching at extension agent to postgraduate levels, administration. Seeking positron in academic, industry, or consultancy fields. Box 188, SCIENCE.

We have recently described the isolation of a cDNA encoding an enzyme thought to be involved in the degradation of insulin by insulin-responsive tissues. This enzyme, referred to as insulin-degrading enzyme (IDE), is a cytosolic proteinase of 110,000 mol wt which shares structural and functional homology with bacterial protease III. The enzyme may function in the termination of the insulin response. We report here the mapping of the human and mouse IDE genes to human chromosome 10 and mouse chromosome 19, respectively, and evidence for the existence of a single complex IDE gene. We also describe the stable transfection of Chinese hamster ovary cells with a plasmid containing the IDE cDNA under the transcriptional control of the SR alpha promoter. The recombinant protein synthesized by these cells is indistinguishable from the isolated human enzyme in both its size and immunoreactivity and degrades insulin with a specific activity similar to that of the purified proteinase. Overexpression of IDE using this system should allow for a functional test of the role of IDE in insulin action. In addition, expression of various site-directed mutants of IDE will aid in identifying the residues of IDE and protease III that are essential to the activity of this unique family of proteinases.