Interaction of the Ty3 reverse transcriptase thumb subdomain with template-primer

Amino acid sequence alignment was used to identify the putative thumb subdomain of reverse transcriptase ( RT) from the Saccharomyces cerevisiae long terminal repeat-containing retrotransposon Ty3. The counterpart to helix alpha H of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 ( HIV-1) RT, which mediates important interactions with a duplex nucleic acid similar to 3 - 6 bp behind the DNA polymerase catalytic center, was identified between amino acids 290 and 298 of the Ty3 enzyme. The consequences of substituting Ty3 RT Gln(290), Phe(292), Gly(294), Asn(297), and Tyr(298) ( the counterparts of HIV-1 RT Gln(258), Leu(260), Gly(262), Asn(265), and Trp(266), respectively) for both DNA polymerase and RNase H activities were examined. DNA-dependent DNA synthesis was evaluated on unmodified substrates and on duplexes containing targeted insertion of locked nucleic acid analogs and abasic lesions in either the template or primer. Based on this combined strategy, our data suggest an interaction of Ty3 RT Tyr298 with primer nucleotide - 3, Gly294 with primer nucleotide - 4, and Asn297 with template nucleotide - 6. Substitution of Ala for Gln290 was well tolerated, despite the high degree of conservation at this position. Mutations in the thumb subdomain of Ty3 also affected RNase H activity, suggesting a closer spatial relationship between its N- and C-terminal catalytic centers compared with HIV-1 RT.