Specific and reversible inhibition by aphidicolin of the α‐like DNA polymerase of plant cells

DNA repair synthesis in plant protoplasts is aphidicolin‐resistant

“…This synthesis is inhibited by aphidicolin, similarly to that shown in cultured plant cells [17] and may therefore be attributed to the activity of the replicative a-like DNA polymerase. However, a 1-2% residual incorporation of the radioactive DNA precursor, observed even in the presence of saturating doses of the drug, hinders the attempts to show a UV-induced [3H]thymidine incorporation into nuclear DNA since the rate of DNA repair synthesis in higher organisms is expected to be 1>3 orders of magnitude lower than that found in nuclear DNA replication [5].…”

“…To this end, we have used aphidicolin [16], a specific inhibitor of the a-like DNA polymerase of higher plant cells [17], as well as that of the DNA polymerase t~ of animal cells [4,6,9,18].…”

Effects of Pyridalyl, a Novel Insecticidal Agent, on Cultured Sf9 Cells

“…Aphidicoline is a specific inhibitor of replicative DNA polymerase a, 9) but does not inhibit nuclear DNA repair synthesis, 10) organellar DNA replication, 11) or RNA and protein synthesis. 12) Thus, aphidicoline does not show any cytotoxic effects besides the inhibition of replicative DNA polymerase a. Aphidicoline was applied to the cells at the onset of incubation. At 5 mM it did not affect the number of cells at least not over 72 hr.…”

Host DNA Replication Is Induced by Geminivirus Infection of Differentiated Plant Cells

“…However, because the encapsidated form of TGMV DNA is single stranded, DNA polymerase ␣ activity is likely to be required for the production of double-stranded DNA replication templates during initial infection (Bryant et al, 2001). Aphidicolin inhibits mammalian polymerase ␣ and polymerase ␦ (Wang, 1991;Wright et al, 1994), has been shown to inhibit plant polymerase ␣-like activity (Sala et al, 1980), and is used routinely to synchronize tobacco cells at S-phase (Nagata et al, 1982). We showed that the synthesis of both singlestranded and double-stranded TGMV DNA is inhibited by aphidicolin at concentrations that still allow incorporation into host DNA to proceed (Figure 2).…”