Quantitative characterization of pyrimidine dimer excision from UV-irradiated DNA (excision capacity) by cell-free extracts of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Cell-free extracts from wild-type yeast (RAD+) and from rad mutants belonging to the RAD3 epistatic group (rad1-1, rad2-1, rad3-1, rad4 -1) contain activities catalyzing the excision of pyrimidine dimers (PD) from purified ultraviolet-irradiated DNA which was not pre-treated with exogenous UV-endonuclease. The level of these activities in cell-free extracts from rad mutants did not differ from that in wild-type extract and was close to the in vivo excision capacity of the latter calculated from the LD37 (about 10(4) PD per haploid genome).