The Structure of Kinetoplast DNA

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Abstract
Degradation of highly purified kinetoplast DNA (kDNA) networks with restriction endonucleases yields ‘extra’ bands in agarose gels that are absent from digests of mini‐circles. Each of the five endonucleases tested, i.e. AluI, HapII, EcoRI, Hsu and HindII + III, yields a unique set of ‘extra’ bands. The ‘extra’ bands consist of linear DNA; they are not mini‐circle oligomers and their added molecular weights, calculated from mobility in gels, are around 2 × 107. Double digests with two restriction endonucleases yield a new set of ‘extra’ bands, showing that the ‘extra’ bands obtained with different enzymes are all derived from the same complex component of kDNA. In digests of 32P‐labelled kDNA an average of 2.3% of the radioactivity is recovered in the ‘extra’ bands. Treatment of kDNA networks with the single‐strand‐specific S1 nuclease of Aspergillus oryzue preferentially releases a linear DNA with a molecular weight of 26 × 106, calculated from mobility in gels. We present evidence that the ‘extra’ bands obtained with restriction endonucleases are derived from this component. DNA‐DNA renaturation analysis of fragmented kDNA shows the presence of a minor complex component with a complexity of about 3 × 107, making up less than 10% of the total kDNA. From these results we conclude that 3–5% of the kDNA consists of a homogeneous class of maxi‐circles catenated in the mini‐circle network. The molecular weight of these maxi‐circles is about 26 × 106 and they contain a unique, non‐repetitive, non‐mini‐circle nucleotide sequence. This component is a prime candidate for the true mitochondrial DNA of trypanosomes.

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