• Untangling a DNA replication mystery may

    From ScienceDaily@1:317/3 to All on Wed Feb 2 21:30:40 2022
    Untangling a DNA replication mystery may lead to new antimalarial drugs


    Date:
    February 2, 2022
    Source:
    John Innes Centre
    Summary:
    The function of an enzyme, critical to most forms of life, has
    been revealed.



    FULL STORY ==========================================================================
    The function of an enzyme, critical to most forms of life, has been
    revealed.


    ==========================================================================
    A research team, led by the John Innes Centre found that the enzyme
    DNA topoisomerase VI (topo VI) performs a critical role in removing
    chromosome tangles that occur in the cell nucleus of plants.

    This function enables the process of endoreduplication where the DNA
    content is doubled. Endoreduplication is the source of polyploidy, where
    a plant has multiple sets of chromosomes, including in some major crops.

    Topo VI was discovered, many years ago, in archaea, a type of
    single-celled organism without a nucleus. It was only found in plants
    and parasites such as malaria, more recently leading to the scientific question: what is the function of this enzyme in eukaryotes, organisms
    whose cells contain a nucleus? "Our study shows that topo VI in
    plants functions to remove chromosome tangles that occur during the endoreduplication process. This potentially explains its presence in
    plants where during endoreduplication, entanglements are most likely to
    occur," explains lead author Dr Shannon McKie.

    The team, a collaboration between the John Innes Centre and the National Institutes of Health, USA, used a combination of biochemistry and single- molecule analysis (using magnetic tweezers) to study the function of
    the enzyme in archaea.

    "Our study gives unprecedented insight into the mechanism of action of
    this enzyme at the molecular level," said Group Leader Professor Tony
    Maxwell and a senior author of the paper.

    "This work may give us a clue to the role of topo VI in plasmodial
    parasites and suggests that the enzyme could be a target for anti-malarial drugs in the future. In plants too, topo VI could have potential as a
    target for herbicides," he added.

    The next stage for the research team is to purify plant and plasmodial
    topo VI enzymes to characterise their properties and develop them as
    potential drug targets.

    ========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by John_Innes_Centre. Note: Content
    may be edited for style and length.


    ========================================================================== Journal Reference:
    1. Shannon J McKie, Parth Desai, Yeonee Seol, Adam MB Allen, Anthony
    Maxwell, Keir C Neuman. Topoisomerase VI is a chirally-selective,
    preferential DNA decatenase. eLife, 2022; 11 DOI:
    10.7554/eLife.67021 ==========================================================================

    Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/02/220202111811.htm

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