RIBONUCLEIC ACID POLYMERASE OF AZOTOBACTER VINELANDII, II. FORMATION OF DNA-RNA HYBRIDS WITH SINGLE-STRANDED DNA AS PRIMER

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Abstract
A DNA-RNA hybrid formed during the synthesis of RNA by highly purified A. vinelandii RNA polymerase when the reaction is primed by heat-denatured, single-stranded DNA. The presence of both DNA and RNA in the hybrid is shown by several lines of evidence. Although heated DNA is a poorer primer than native DNA, net synthesis over the amount of primer added has been observed when using heated DNA suggesting that the single-stranded primer is used catalytically and the hybrid either dissociates to release free RNA or the RNA strand is displaced by the synthesis of another or that the hybrid, once formed, acts as a primer for further synthesis. The present data do not permit a distinction to be made between those possibilities.