A nucleoside triphosphate-dependent deoxyribonuclease from Bacillus laterosporus. Purification and characterization of the enzyme.

A deoxyribonuclease, which requires nucleoside triphosphate for reaction, has been purified about 150-fold from extracts of Bacillus laterosporus. Potassium phosphate and ethylene glycol stabilize the purified enzyme. The enzyme degrades double-stranded DNA about 100 times faster than heat-denatured DNA in the presence of nucleoside triphosphate. Double-stranded DNA is not degraded to any measurable extent in the absence of ATP, but the enzyme exhibits activity toward denatured DNA in the absence of nucleoside triphosphate, and this activity seems to be an intrinsic property of this enzyme protein. The optimum pH is 8.5 and the maximum activity is obtained in the copresence of Mg2+ (8.0 X 10(-3)M) and Mn2+ (7.0 X 10(-5)M). ATP and dATP are most effective and nucleoside di- or monophosphates are ineffective. ATP is converted to ADP and inorganic phosphate during the reaction and the ratio of the amount of ATP cleaved to that of hydrolyzed phosphodiester bonds of DNA is about 3:1. An inhibitor of the enzyme was observed in bacterial extracts prepared by sonic disruption; the inhibitory substance is produced in the bacteria in the later stages of cell growth. Preliminary results show that the inhibitor emerged near the void volume of a Sephadex G-200 column, and was relatively heat-stable, RNase-resistant, and DNase-sensitive.