Crystal structure of a bacteriophage T7 DNA replication complex at 2.2 A resolution.

Doublié, S; Tabor, S; Long, A M; Richardson, C C; Ellenberger, T · Nature · 1998

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

DNA polymerases change their specificity for nucleotide substrates with each catalytic cycle, while achieving error frequencies in the range of 10(-5) to 10(-6). Here we present a 2.2 A crystal structure of the replicative DNA polymerase from bacteriophage T7 complexed with a primer-template and a nucleoside triphosphate in the polymerase active site. The structure illustrates how nucleotides are selected in a template-directed manner, and provides a structural basis for a metal-assisted mechanism of phosphoryl transfer by a large group of related polymerases.

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