Reaction of T7 DNA with a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon. Lack of structural perturbation.

Bacteriophage T7 DNA reacts uniformly with trans-7,8-dihydroxy-anti-9,10-epoxy-7,8,9,10-tetrahydrobenzo(a)pyrene(anti-BPDE). The reaction product retains the native configuration so that only one site sensitive to S1 nuclease is produced for every 70 anti-BPDE adducts. DNA treated with anti-BPDE is retained on benzoylated naphthoylated DEAE-cellulose even after washing with 1.0 M salt solutions. About 100 adducts per T7 molecule are required for adherence which is not due to breaks or single-stranded regions since adherence is not affected by S1 nuclease treatment. The binding of anti-BPDE reacted DNA to benzoylated naphthoylated DEAE-cellulose is cooperative and requires many residues per bound fragment. Treatment of T7 DNA treated with anti-BPDE with restriction endonuclease yields smaller molecules, still containing adducts, which do not adhere. We interpret these results to mean that reaction with BPDE does not involve deformation of the DNA structure and that the adducts lie in a position which they are readily accessible for interaction with aromatic groups on the column resin.