Double-strand breaks in the DNA of vertebrate cells are joined by mechanisms of non-homologous DNA-end joining (NEJ). In extracts from Xenopus eggs, NEJ is inhibited by dideoxynucleotides, indicating a possible involvement of DNA polymerase β (Polβ). Since some types of NEJ products were shown to be formed in vitro by prokaryotic DNA polymerases lacking exonuclease activity, we were interested in whether Polβ alone would be capable of catalyzing NEJ reactions. Therefore we have cloned the fulllength cDNA of the Xenopus laevis Polβ. The cDNA, predicting a highly conserved 39-kDa protein of 334 amino acids, was tagged with six histidine residues at its N-terminus for overexpression in Escherichia coli, purified to near homogeneity, and shown to have the same catalytic properties as the previously cloned rat and human enzymes. Using oligonucleotides as substrates we show that the recombinant Xenopus Polβ adds single untemplated nucleotides to blunt ends. However, under conditions that permit efficient NEJ in Xenopus egg extracts, Polβ does not form those types of NEJ products formed by the prokaryotic polymerases indicating that Polβ alone is not able to mediate the complex NEJ process in vitro. Using substrates with 3′ protruding single strands of increasing length (6Ϫ16 nucleotides) we show that Polβ initiates fill-in DNA synthesis on fold-back structures formed by the longest 3′ protruding stand. This unusual feature of β-type polymerases requires that the loop of the fold-back structure consists of at least six bases and the stem be paired by at least 2bp to facilitate priming of DNA synthesis.Keywords : DNA polymerase β; Xenopus laevis ; non-homologous DNA-end joining; discontinuous DNA synthesis; untemplated base addition.The repair of chromosome breaks is essential to cell survival. ways may differ with respect to accuracy (i.e. preservation versus loss of terminal DSB sequences) they are conserved from Double-strand breaks (DSB), potentially lethal lesions in chromosomal DNA, may arise spontaneously [1,2] or after exposure yeast to man [9Ϫ16].Using an in vitro joining system based on extracts from Xento DNA-damaging agents, such as ionizing radiation [3]. In vertebrate cells, the major pathway of DSB repair proceeds by ille-opus laevis eggs and linear plasmid substrates bearing defined restriction ends we have shown earlier that a highly accurate gitimate recombination, which is able to rejoin DSB termini directly by non-homologous DNA-end-joining (NEJ) [1,4]. Un-NEJ mechanism generates two major types (overlap and fill-in) of products [10]. The type of product formed depends on the like homologous recombination, NEJ can proceed in the absence of sequence homology provided by the homologue or sister structure of the ends being joined: overlap products typically arise during the joining of DNA ends containing anti-parallel chromatid. Thus, two initially physically unlinked DNA ends must be aligned in some form of synapsis to counteract diffu-protruding single strands (PSS). By pairing of single complementary...