Chemical Morphing of DNA Containing Four Noncanonical Bases |
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Authors: | Elena Eremeeva Dr Michail Abramov Lia Margamuljana Prof Jef Rozenski Dr Valerie Pezo Dr Philippe Marlière Prof Piet Herdewijn |
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Institution: | 1. Laboratory of Medicinal Chemistry, Rega, Institute for Medical Research, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium;2. ISSB, Génopole, Genavenir 6, Equipe Xénome, Evry Cedex, France |
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Abstract: | The ability of alternative nucleic acids, in which all four nucleobases are substituted, to replicate in vitro and to serve as genetic templates in vivo was evaluated. A nucleotide triphosphate set of 5‐chloro‐2′‐deoxyuridine, 7‐deaza‐2′‐deoxyadenosine, 5‐fluoro‐2′‐deoxycytidine, and 7‐deaza‐2′deoxyguanosine successfully underwent polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification using templates of different lengths (57 or 525mer) and Taq or Vent (exo‐) DNA polymerases as catalysts. Furthermore, a fully morphed gene encoding a dihydrofolate reductase was generated by PCR using these fully substituted nucleotides and was shown to transform and confer trimethoprim resistance to E. coli. These results demonstrated that fully modified templates were accurately read by the bacterial replication machinery and provide the first example of a long fully modified DNA molecule being functional in vivo. |
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Keywords: | chemical evolution DNA replication gene expression nucleic acids synthetic biology |
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