The DNA/RNA Synthesizer provides a complete and automated procedure for the synthesis of DNA sequences. Each base unit is added in a 30-minute cycle, permitting a tetradecamer to be constructed in 6 1/2 hours. The complete procedure is described, including a practical procedure for isolation and purification of the desired DNA sequence.

A streptavidin-RNase H gene fusion was constructed by cloning the Thermus thermophilus RNase H coding sequence in the streptavidin expression vector pTSA18F. The gene was expressed in Escherichia coli, and the resulting fusion protein was purified to apparent homogeneity. The fusion protein was shown to have a molecular weight of 128 kDa and to consist of four subunits. Furthermore, heat treatment of the fusion enzyme showed that it was stable as a tetramer at 65 degrees C. The fusion enzyme was shown to have both biotin binding and RNase H catalytic properties. Using cycling probe technology (CPT), the fusion enzyme was compared to the native RNase H with a biotinylated probe at different ratios of probe:enzyme and varying amounts of synthetic target DNA. At a ratio of 1:1, the fusion enzyme was active in CPT, but the native enzyme was not; both enzymes were active at a 1:5000 ratio of probe:enzyme. The fusion enzyme was further tested using biotinylated and non-biotinylated probes and was shown to be active at a 1:1 ratio with the biotinylated probe but not with the non-biotinylated probe. These experiments show that through binding of the streptavidin-RNase H fusion enzyme to the biotinylated probe, the efficiency of the cycling probe reaction is enhanced.

Abstract. Mutants of the maroon-like complex, representative of the five known complementation classes, were subjected to fine structure mapping experiments utilizing a nutritional selective procedure which permits the survival of rare ma-l+ progeny from large-scale crosses. The analysis provides an internally consistent, unique map, colinear with the complementation map. Noncomplementers exhibit a polarized mapping distribution. In addition to ma-l+ recombinants, the selective medium permitted the survival of ma-l+ exceptionals not associated with recombination for adjacent markers. Analysis of the exceptionals favors their origin as convertants.

Cycling probe technology (CPT) is a unique and simple method for the detection of specific target sequences. CPT utilizes a chimeric DNA-RNA-DNA probe providing an RNase H-sensitive scissile linkage when bound to a complementary target sequence. For this study, a diagnostic assay based on CPT was developed for the detection of the 36-bp direct repeat (DR) region in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. To determine the feasibility of using the DR for detecting M. tuberculosis by CPT, a wide variety of mycobacteria were tested by Southern blot hybridization with three DR probes to verify their specificity. The entire DR region of Mycobacterium bovis 401 was sequenced, and the data were used to design a PCR assay that would allow us to estimate the number of DRs present in a variety of strains. A CPT assay which uses a probe complementary to the DR region was developed and evaluated with synthetic targets and genomic DNA from mycobacteria. In summary, the 36-bp DR provides an attractive target for detecting M. tuberculosis because the sequence is present in high copy numbers in the genome, is specific for the M. tuberculosis complex, and is found in strains that lack IS6110.

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