Type II restriction of 2-aminoadenine (dZ) modified DNA and production of dZ-modified plasmid in E. coli

The modified DNA base 2,6 aminopurine (2-aminoadenine, (d)Z base) was originally found in phages to counteract host encoded restriction systems. However, only a limited number of restriction endonucleases (REases) have been tested on dZ-modified DNA. Herein we report the results of 147 REases activity on dZ-modified PCR DNA. Among the enzymes tested, 53.1% are resistant or partially resistant, and 46.9% are sensitive when the restriction sites contain 1 to 6 modified bases. Sites with 4-6 dZ substitutions are most likely resistant to Type II restriction. Our results support the notion that dZ-modified phage genomes are evolved to combat host- encoded restriction systems. dZ-modified DNA can also "slow down" phage T5 exonuclease degradation, but it has no effect on RecBCD digestion. When two genes for dZ biosynthesis and one gene for dATP hydrolysis from Salmonella phage PMBT28 (purZ (adenylosuccinate synthetase), datZ (dATP triphosphohydrolase), and mazZ ((d)GTP-specific diphosphohydrolase) were cloned into E. coli plasmid, dZ incorporation level reached 19-20% dZ/(dZ+dA). dZ level can be further increased to 28.9-44.3% with co-expression of a DNA polymerase gene from the same phage. High level of dZ incorporation in recombinant plasmid is possible by co-expression of purZ, mazZ, datZ and phage DNA helicase, dpoZ (DNA polymerase) and ssb (single-stranded DNA binding protein SSB). This work has a general interest for molecular biologists working on dZ DNA modification and restriction systems. It provides a foundation for future research on screening dZ-dependent Type IV restriction systems. The results presented herein may have implication in gene therapy utilizing dZ-modified DNA, provided that human RNA polymerase variants can efficiently perform transcription from a dZ-modified template.