The influence of sequences adjacent to the recognition site on the cleavage of oligodeoxynucleotides by the EcoRI endonuclease.

We have investigated the influence of the nucleotide sequence adjacent to the recognition site on the rate of cleavage of DNA by the restriction endonuclease EcoRI. For this purpose two decadeoxynucleotides, d(G-G-G-A-A-T-T-C-T-T) (Ia) and d(A-A-G-A-A-T-T-C-C-C) (Ib) were synthesized. The duplex Ia X Ib is cleaved by EcoRI preferentially in the dA-rich strand (approximately 10 times over the dG-rich strand). The individual nucleotides Ia and Ib are also cleaved by EcoRI, Ib at a higher rate than Ia and both at a lower rate than Ia X Ib. The temperature dependence of the reaction rate shows that only double-stranded oligodeoxynucleotides are substrates for the EcoRI endonuclease. We have, furthermore, synthesized oligomers of d(G-G-A-A-T-T-C-C), which contain two, three and four EcoRI sites, respectively. These oligodeoxynucleotides are preferentially cleaved at the sites next to the 5' end, where the recognition site is only flanked by one dG X dC base pair, in contrast to the other sites which are flanked by three such pairs. These data indicate that sequences adjacent to the recognition site influence the rate of cleavage: dA X dT base pairs enhance and dG X dC base pairs slow down the hydrolytic activity of the EcoRI endonuclease.