Mapping of restriction sites in the argF gene of Escherichia coli by partial endonuclease digestion of end-labeled DNA.

A detailed physical map depicting the cleavage sites generated by ten different restriction endonucleases was prepared for the argF region of the Escherichia coli K-12 genome carried on a 1650 base pair fragment capable of directing the in vitro synthesis of ornithine transcarbamylase (OTCase; ec 2.1.3.3) under the control of arginine holorepressor. The method employed was originally developed by Smith and Birnstiel (1976), and involved the electrophoretic sizing of partial endonuclease digestion products of DNA radiolabeled at one end. This novel technique proved to be rapid, simple, amenable to the simultaneous mapping of numerous cleavage sites, and provided the essential information for determining the map order of restriction fragments. A facile method which involved magnesium phosphate as the DNA-binding agent was presented for the isolation of DNA fragments. The discovery of a 117 base pair leader sequence in the argF gene is also discussed.