Specificity of a deoxyribonucleic acid transmethylase induced by bacteriophage T2. I. Nucleotide sequences isolated from Micrococcus luteus DNA methylated in vitro

Abstract
(Deoxyribonucleic acid from Micrococcus luteus was methylated in vitro in the presence of S-adenosyl-(14C methyl)methionine with a DNA methyltransferase purified from extracts of te. coli infected with bacteriophage T2. The labelled DNA was degraded by enzymatic and specific chemical methods and the resulting short oligonucleotides were separated and characterized. tthe analytical data permit the conclusion that the tdna transmethylase reacts specifically with N-G-A-T-C-N sequences in which it converts adenine to a 6-methyl-aminopurine residue.