Nucleic Acids Research, 1983, Vol. 11, No. 8 2479-2494
© 1983
MOLECULAR BIOLOGY |
CAP binding to B and Z forms of DNA
Departments of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry and Chemistry, Yale University P.O. Box 6666, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
Received November 18, 1982. Revised March 21, 1983. Accepted March 21, 1983.
We have examined the interaction between the cyclic AMP receptor protein (CAP) and a small DNA fragment containing its specific recognition sequence by circular dichroism spectroscopy. The binding of CAP to this fragment induces a B to "C-like" change in the CD spectrum, which is different from that observed for non-specific binding. A one-to-one (CAP dimer to DNA) binding stoichiometry was deduced from spectroscopic titration data, as was a non-specific binding site size of 17 bp/dimer. In addition, we have compared the non-specific binding affinity of CAP for the B and Z forms of synthetic DNA copolymers. A slight preference for the B form was found. These results do not support the recent specific suggestion that CAP binds to a left-handed form of DNA (1), but indicate more generally that an optically detectable conformational change takes place in DNA on binding CAP.