Biopolym. Cell. 1988; 4(3):119-123.
http://dx.doi.org/10.7124/bc.00021C
Structure and Function of Biopolymers
Substrate specificity and biological role of reverse gyrase from extreme thermophilic archaebacteria
1Slesarev A. I., 1Kozjavkin S. A.
  1. Institute of Molecular Genetics, Academy of Sciences of the USSR
    Moscow, USSR

Abstract

Reverse gyrase has been isolated from new archaebacterium D. amylolythicus. It was found that single-stranded DNA was effective in inhibiting the action of reverse gyrase. Using heteroduplex molecules formed from a pair of plasmids, one of which contains a small insertion relative to the other, it is shown that enzyme introduces additional positive supercoils into positively supercoiled DNA if a short single-stranded loop is placed in the DNA. These results suggest that reverse gyrase is specific to single-stranded DNA like eubacterial topoisomerase I. Due to such specificity reverse gyrase can support optimal level of positive supercoiling in extreme thermophiles and prevents denaturation of the gcnomic DNA of these organisms.
Full text: (PDF, in Russian)

References

[1] Stetter KO, K?nig H, Stackebrandt E. Pyrodictium gen. nov., a New Genus of Submarine Disc-Shaped Sulphur Reducing Archaebacteria Growing Optimally at 105В°C. Syst Appl Microbiol. 1983;4(4):535-51.
[2] Nakasu S, Kikuchi A. Reverse gyrase; ATP-dependent type I topoisomerase from Sulfolobus. EMBO J. 1985;4(10):2705-10.
[3] Forterre P, Mirambeau G, Jaxel C, Nadal M, Duguet M. High positive supercoiling in vitro catalyzed by an ATP and polyethylene glycol-stimulated topoisomerase from Sulfolobus acidocaldarius. EMBO J. 1985;4(8):2123-8.
[4] Slesarev AI. Positive topoisomerase activity revealed in a new extreme-thermophilic anaerobic Archaebacterium, reducing sulfur. Biopolym Cell. 1988; 4(1):28-34.
[5] Nadal M, Mirambeau G, Forterre P, Reiter W-D, Duguet M. Positively supercoiled DNA in a virus-like particle of an archaebacterium. Nature. 1986; 321(6067):256-258.
[6] Maniatis T., Fritsch E. E., Sambrook J. Molecular cloning. A laboratory manual. New York : Cold Spring Harbor Lab., 1982-390 p.
[7] Kirkegaard K, Wang JC. Bacterial DNA topoisomerase I can relax positively supercoiled DNA containing a single-stranded loop. J Mol Biol. 1985;185(3):625-37.
[8] Panyutin I, Lyamichev V, Mirkin S. A structural transition in d(AT)n.d(AT)n inserts within superhelical DNA. J Biomol Struct Dyn. 1985;2(6):1221-34.
[9] Wang JC. DNA topoisomerases. Annu Rev Biochem. 1985;54:665-97.