Polymerase chimeras

[0002] The invention concerns polymerase chimeras which are composed of amino acid fragments representing domains and which combine properties of naturally occurring polymerases that are advantageous with regard to a particular application. It has surprisingly turned out that the domains from the various enzymes are active in the chimeras and exhibit a cooperative behaviour. The present invention especially concerns those polymerase chimeras in which the domains having polymerase activity and domains having 3′-5′exonuclease activity are derived from different enzymes. Such chimeras can also have RT activity. In addition the present invention concerns a process for the production of the chimeras according to the invention and the use of these chimeras for the synthesis of nucleic acids e.g. during a polymerase chain reaction. Moreover the present invention concerns a kit which contains the polymerase chimeras according to the invention.

[0003] According to Braithwaite, D. K. and Ito, J. (1993) Nucl. Acids Res. 21, 787-802 DNA polymerases are divided according to the correspondence in their amino acid sequences into three main families with subclasses. Joyce, C. M. and Steitz, T. A. (1994) Annu. Rev. Biochem. 63, 777-822 give a summary of the motifs and conserved amino acids that were found. In prokaryotes the main distinction is made between three polymerases: polymerase I, II and III. These polymerases differ with regard to their function in the cell and with regard to their properties. DNA polymerase I is considered to be a repair enzyme and frequently has 5′-3′ as well as 3′-5′ exonuclease activity. Polymerase II appears to facilitate DNA synthesis which starts from a damaged template strand and thus preserves mutations. Polymerase III is the replication enzyme of the cell, it synthesizes nucleotides at a high rate (ca. 30,000 per minute) and is considered to be very processive. Polymerase III has no 5′-3′ exonuclease activity. Other properties of polymerases are due to their origin such as e.g. thermostability or processivity.

[0004] Particular properties of polymerases are desirable depending on the application. For example thermostable, high-fidelity (i.e. polymerases with proof-reading activity), processive and rapidly synthesizing polymerases are preferred for PCR. Enzymes are preferred for sequencing which do not discriminate much between dideoxy and deoxy nucleotides. In contrast the proof-reading activity of polymerases, i.e. 3′-5′ exonuclease activity, is not desirable for sequencing. For some applications e.g. PCR it is desirable that the polymerase has no or little 5′-3′ exonuclease activity (5′ nuclease activity).

[0005] Polymerases can also differ in their ability to accept RNA as a template i.e. with regard to their reverse transcriptase (RT) activity. The RT activity may be dependent on the presence of manganese or/and magnesium ions. It is often desirable that the RT activity of the polymerase is independent of manganese ions since the reading accuracy of polymerase is decreased in the presence of manganese ions. Polymerases additionally differ in their processivity which is also a desirable property for many applications.

[0006] There is therefore a need to optimize the properties of polymerases with regard to a particular application. In the past this was often achieved by introducing mutations or by deleting functions of the polymerases.

[0007] Thus for example the 5′-3′ exonuclease activity was abolished by introducing mutations (Merkens, L. S. (1995) Biochem. Biophys. Acta1264, 243-248) as well as by truncation (Jacobsen, H. (1974) Eur. J. Biochem.45, 623-627; Barnes, W. M. (1992) Gene112, 29-35). The ability of polymerases to discriminate between dideoxy and deoxynucleotides was reduced by introducing point mutations (Tabor S. and Richardson, C. C. (1995) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci.92, 6339-6343). Tabor and Richardson describe the construction of active site hybrids.

[0008] The object to provide polymerases with optimized properties was achieved by the present invention for the first time by producing polymerase chimeras by exchanging domains that are structurally and functionally independent of one another. Domains in the sense of the present invention are understood as regions which contain all essential centres or all functionally important amino acids such that the domains essentially retain their function. It is therefore also possible to exchange only parts i.e. functioning fragments of domains. Thus these domains can be referred to as functional amino acid fragments in the sense of the present invention. Furthermore the chimeras can be additionally modified by mutations or truncations. If it appears to be advantageous it is also possible to introduce mutations into the chimeras which further optimize their properties with regard to the respective application. Thus for example mutations can be introduced which reduce the ability of the polymerases to discriminate between dideoxy and deoxy nucleotides. Alternatively desired properties such as processivity can be strengthened or introduced by introducing mutations or by truncation. The introduction of mutations or truncations can also abolish undesired properties e.g. the 5′ nuclease activity.

[0009] Thus polymerase chimeras are a subject matter of the present invention which combine advantageous properties of naturally occurring polymerases with regard to a particular application. The polymerase chimeras according to the invention are composed of functional amino acid fragments of different enzymes which preferably represent domains of different enzymes. The invention surprisingly showed that the domains from the different enzymes are active in the chimera and exhibit a cooperative behaviour between the domains. The present invention also concerns general processes for the production of polymerase chimeras with optimized properties. This process according to the invention thus enables a chimera to be designed from an arbitrary combination of enzymes by exchanging domains. It is additionally preferred that the interactions at the sites of contact between the domains are further harmonized by various methods. This can for example lead to an increase in the thermostability of the chimeras. A further subject matter of the invention is a kit for the synthesis of nucleic acids which contains a chimera according to the invention.

[0010] Thermostable DNA polymerases with proof-reading function are being increasingly used in practice for PCR. The use of mixtures of Taq polymerase and thermostable proof-reading DNA polymerase (such as Pfu, Pwo, Vent polymerase) has proven to be particularly successful for the amplification of long DNA molecules. Thus a further subject matter of the present invention was to combine the high processivity and thermostability of Taq polymerase with the 3′-5′ exonuclease activity of another DNA polymerase in one enzyme. Hence the present invention especially concerns thermostable polymerase chimeras which have a processivity which corresponds to at least that of Taq polymerase and have a low error rate when incorporating nucleotides into the polymer chain during amplification due to the presence of a 3′-5′ exonuclease activity (proof-reading activity). The combination of these two properties enables for example a chimera to be generated which is able to make long PCR products i.e. nucleic acid fragments which are larger than 2 kb. The chimera according to the invention is also suitable for amplifying shorter fragments.

[0011] The present invention therefore concerns in particular a polymerase chimera which is composed of functional amino acid fragments of two different polymerases wherein the first or the second polymerase has 3′-5′ exonuclease activity and the polymerase chimera has 5′-3′ polymerase activity as well as 3′-5′ exonuclease activity. The polymerases can be naturally occurring or recombinant polymerases. The polymerase chimera according to the invention can be composed of functional amino acid fragments from two or several different polymerases. The polymerase chimera according to the invention can be composed of two or several functional amino acid fragments from the different polymerases. The amino acid sequence of the fragment can correspond to the naturally occurring sequence of the polymerase or to a sequence modified by mutations.

[0012] The amino acid fragments from which the polymerase chimera is constructed preferably each correspond to functional polymerase domains of the first or second polymerase. A functional polymerase domain in the sense of the present invention is a region which contains all amino acids that are essential for the activity and is abbreviated as domain in the following.

[0013] The present invention concerns in particular a polymerase chimera composed of functional amino acid fragments (in short domains) from at least two different polymerases wherein the domain having polymerase activity is homologous to one polymerase and the domain having 3′ exonuclease activity is homologous to another polymerase. Moreover, this chimera can additionally have 5′ exonuclease activity in which case the domain having 5′ exonuclease activity can be homologous to the first or to the second polymerase. However, it is also possible that the 5′ exonuclease domain is partially or completely deleted or has point mutations. The polymerase chimera according to the invention can additionally have reverse transcriptase (RT) activity.

[0014] It is additionally preferred that a part of the amino acid fragments of the polymerase chimeras corresponds to a part of the amino acid sequence of Taq polymerase.

[0015] The polymerase whose domain or amino acid fragment having 3′-5′ exonuclease activity has been incorporated into the chimera can for example be a Pol-I type polymerase or also a Pol-II type polymerase. Representatives of the Pol-I type polymerase with 3′-5′ exonuclease activity are for example Escherichia colipolymerase (Ec.1), Salmonella polymerase I, Bacillus polymerase I, Thermosiphon polymerase I and Thermatoga neapolitanapolymerase (Tne). Representatives of the Pol-II type polymerase with 3′-5′ exonuclease activity are for example Pyrrococcus woesiepolymerase (Pwo), Pyrococcus furiosuspolymerase (Pfu), Thermococcus litoralispolymerase (Tli), Pyrodictum abyssi.

[0016] Representatives of Pol-I type and Pol-II type polymerases which were mentioned as examples are described in more detail in the following:

[0017] The Taq DNA polymerase from Thermus aquaticus(Taq polymerase), Escherichia coliDNA polymerase I (E. colipolI) and Thermotoga neapolitanaDNA polymerase (Tne polymerase) are bacterial DNA polymerases from the A family. They are DNA polymerases of the polI type since the various enzymatic activities are located in the various domains in a relatively similar manner to that found in E. colipolI. The Pyrococcus woesiDNA polymerase (Pwo polymerase) is, like Thermococcus litoralesDNA polymerase (Vent™ polymerase) and Pyrococcus furiosusDNA polymerase (Pfu polymerase), an archaebacterial DNA polymerase of the B family.

[0018] Taq polymerase is described by Chien, A. et al. (1976) J. Bacteriol. 127, 1550-1557, Kaledin, A. S. et al. (1980) Biokhimiya 45, 644-651 and Lawyer, F. C. et al. (1989) J. Biol. Chem. 264, 6427-6437. It was originally isolated from the thermophilic eubacterium Thermus aquaticusand later cloned in E. coli.The enzyme has a molecular weight of 94 kDa and is active as a monomer. Taq polymerase is suitable for use in the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) since it has a high thermal stability (half life of 40 minutes at 95° C./5 minutes at 100° C.) and a highly processive 5′-3′ DNA polymerase (polymerisation rate: 75 nucleotides per second). Apart from the polymerase activity, a 5′ nuclease activity was detected by Longley et al. (1990) Nucl. Acids Res. 18, 7317-7322. The enzyme has no 3′-5′ exonuclease activity so that errors occur during the incorporation of the four deoxyribonucleotide triphosphates to successively extend polynucleotide chains which interfere with the gene amplification (error rate: 2×10⁻⁴errors/base, Cha, R. S. and Thilly, W. G. (1993) PCR Methods Applic. 3, 18-29). The tertiary structure of Taq polymerase has been known since 1995 (Kim et al., 1995, Korolev et al., 1995).

[0019] E. colipolI is described in Kornberg, A. and Baker, T. A. (1992) DNA Replication, 2nd edition, Freeman, New York, 113-165. The enzyme has a molecular weight of 103 kDa and is active as a monomer. E. colipolI has 5′ nuclease activity and 5′-3′ DNA polymerase activity. In contrast to Taq polymerase, it additionally has a 3′-5′ exonuclease activity as a proof-reading function. E. colipolI and its Klenow fragment (Jacobsen, H. et al. (1974) Eur. J. Biochem. 45, 623-627) were used for PCR before the introduction of Taq polymerase. However, due to their low thermal stability they are less suitable since they have to be newly added to each cycle. The tertiary structure of the Klenow fragment of E. colipolI has been known since 1983 (Brick, P. et al., (1983) J. Mol. Biol. 166, 453-456, Ollis, D. L. et al. (1985) Nature 313, 762-766 and Beese, L. S. et al. (1993) Science 260, 352-355).

[0020] Tne polymerase was isolated from the thermophilic eubacterium Thermotoga neapolitanaand later cloned in E. coli.The amino acid sequence of the Tne polymerase is similar to that of Thermotoga maritimaDNA polymerase (UITma™ polymerase) (personal information from Dr. B. Frey). It has a high thermal stability, 5′ nuclease activity, 3′-5′ exonuclease activity and 5′-3′ DNA polymerase activity. A disadvantage is the low polymerisation rate compared with that of Taq polymerase. The UITma™ polymerase which has a similar amino acid sequence is used for PCR if a high accuracy is required. Of the structure of Tne polymerase, only the amino acid sequence is known up to now (Boehringer Mannheim). However, the enzyme is homologous to E. colipolI so that, although the tertiary structure is unknown, homology modelling is possible.

[0021] Pfu polymerase was isolated from the hyper-thermophilic, marine archaebacterium Pyrococcus furiosus.It has a high thermal stability (95% activity after one hour at 95° C.), 3′-5′ exonuclease activity and 5′-3′ DNA polymerase activity (Lundberg, K. S. et al. (1991) Gene 108, 1-6). The accuracy of the DNA synthesis is ca. 10 times higher than that of Taq polymerase. It is used for PCR if a high accuracy is required. Of the structure only the amino acid sequence is known up to now.

[0022] Pwo polymerase (PCR Applications Manual (1995), Boehringer Mannheim GmbH, Biochemica, 28-32) was originally isolated from the hyperthermophilic archaebacterium Pyrococcus woesiand later cloned in E. coli.The enzyme has a molecular weight of about 90 kDa and is active as a monomer. Pwo polymerase has a higher thermal stability than Taq polymerase (half life >2 hours at 100° C.), a highly processive 5′-3′ DNA polymerase activity and a high 3′-5′ exonuclease activity which increases the accuracy of the DNA synthesis. The enzyme has no 5′ nuclease activity. The polymerisation rate (30 nucleotides per second) is less than that of Taq polymerase. The enzyme is used for PCR if a high accuracy is required. The accuracy of the DNA synthesis is more than 10 times higher than when using Taq polymerase.

[0023] Ath polymerase was isolated from the thermophilic archaebacterium Anaerocellum thermophilumand later cloned in E. coli.Ath polymerase has a high thermal stability and still has at least 90% of the original activity after an incubation of 30 min at 80° C. in the absence of stabilizing detergents. The polymerase also has RT activity in the presence of magnesium ions. Ath polymerase is deposited at the “Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen und Zellkulturen GmbH”, Mascheroder Weg 1b, D38124 Braunschweig DSM Accession No. 8995. The Ath polymerase has 5′-3′ polymerase activity, 5′-3′ exonuclease activity but no 3′-5′ exonuclease activity. Histidine tags or other purification aids can be additionally incorporated into the amino acid sequence of the polymerase chimeras to improve the purification.

[0024] There are four main methods for introducing a 3′-5′ exonuclease activity of a polymerase into another polymerase for example into Taq polymerase which are also a subject matter of the present invention:

[0025] 1. Insertion of the 3′-5′ exonuclease region of another DNA polymerase by exchange of a molecular region of Taq polymerase

[0026] This approach is particularly suitable since the Taq polymerase is homologous to E. colipolI which is composed of domains which are functionally and structurally independent (Joyce, C. M. and Steitz, T. A. (1987) TIBS 12, 288-292) and can serve as a model for other DNA polymerases (Joyce, C. M. (1991) Curr. Opin. Struct. Biol. 1, 123-129). Suitable DNA polymerases for the exchange are those for which a 3′-5′ exonuclease activity has been demonstrated, whose DNA sequence is known and the gene coding for the 3′-5′ exonuclease activity is available. For a rational protein design based on model structures it is additionally advantageous that the 3′-5′ exonuclease region and the polymerase region are homologous to E. colipolI. The 3′-5′ exonuclease region preferably fits well into the structure of E. colipolI and adjoins the polymerase region of Taq polymerase. Further advantages are an elucidated tertiary structure with available structural data and high thermal stability of the protein.

[0027] The following DNA polymerases are thus for example suitable:

[0028] a. E. colipolI

[0029] Apart from thermal stability, E. colipolI fulfils all the above-mentioned conditions. The tertiary structure of the Klenow fragment is available in the Brookhaven data bank and, like Taq polymerase, it belongs to the A family of DNA polymerases. The identity in the amino acid sequence is 32%. Taking the known domain structure into consideration, the largest agreements are found in the N-terminal and in the C-terminal region of the two proteins (32% identity in the 5′ nuclease domains, 49% identity in the polymerase domains). The shorter Taq polymerase has several deletions in the region of the 3′-5′ exonuclease domain (14% identity in the 3′-5′ exonuclease domain and intermediate domain). Since E. colipolI is thermolabile and the interactions at the interface between the two domains in the chimeric protein are no longer optimal, it is probable that the protein chimera will also have a lower thermal stability than that of Taq polymerase. This can be redressed by subsequent modification of amino acids at the interface.

[0030] b. Thermostable DNA polymerases

[0031] Among the thermostable DNA polymerases with 3′-5′ exonuclease that are nowadays used for PCR, the Pwo polymerase, Pfu polymerase, Vent™ polymerase, Tne polymerase and UITma™ polymerase appear to be suitable for combination with the Taq DNA polymerase. The genes of the Pwo polymerase and the Tne polymerase are accessible (via the Boehringer Mannheim Company). The Pfu polymerase can be obtained from Stratagene Inc. The Tne polymerase is well suited for a rational protein design due to its homology to Taq polymerase and E. colipolI. When using the Pfu polymerase designs are only possible based on amino acid sequence alignments taking into consideration the known conserved amino acids and motifs that are essential for the function.

[0032] 2. Modification of the Taq DNA polymerase in the intermediate domain

[0033] In order to insert a 3′-5′ exonuclease activity it is necessary to insert all amino acids that are essential for the activity into the structure. According to the present state of knowledge this applies in particular to the three motifs Exo I, Exo II and Exo III. The essential motifs must additionally be linked in a suitable manner in order to be placed in the spatial position necessary for catalysis.

[0034] It is also possible to modify the Taq DNA polymerase in the polymerase region. A de novo design of polymerases is also in principle conceivable.

[0035] The chimeras according to the invention can be additionally optimized by:

[0036] 1. Removing the 5′ nuclease domain (possible also proteolytically) or subsequently inactivating the 5′ nuclease activity (described in Merkens, L. S. (1995) Biochem. Biophys. Acta 1264, 243-248)

[0037] 2. Modification by point mutations or fragment exchange

[0038] 3. Optimization of the structures at the interface of the chimeras

[0039] 4. Optimization by random mutagenesis and/or random recombination with other polymerase genes (molecular evolution).

[0040] Examples of polymerase chimeras according to the invention are the following:

[0041] Taq DNA polymerase (M1-V307)E.coliDNA polymerase (D355-D501) Taq DNA polymerase (A406-E832)

[0042] Taq DNA polymerase (M1-P291)E.coliDNA polymerase (Y327-K511) Taq DNA polymerase (L416-E832)

[0043] Taq DNA polymerase (M1-P291)E.coliDNA polymerase (Y327-H519) Taq DNA polymerase (E424-E832): point mutation A643G; Ile455Val SEQ ID NO.:1

[0044] Taq DNA polymerase (M1-P291)E.coliDNA polymerase (Y327-V536) Taq DNA polymerase (L441-E832)

[0045] Taq DNA polymerase (M1-P291)E.coliDNA polymerase (Y327-G544) Taq DNA polymerase (V449-E832); SEQ ID NO.:2

[0046] Taq DNA polymerase (M1-P302)E.coliDNA polymerase (K348-S365) Taq DNA polymerase (A319-E347) E.coliDNA poly(N450-T505) Taq DNA polymerase (E410-E4832);

[0047] Taq DNA polymerase (M1-V307)Tne DNA polymerase (D323-D468) Taq DNA polymerase (A406-E832)

[0048] Taq DNA polymerase (M1-P291)Tne DNA polymerase (P295-I478) Taq DNA polymerase (L416-E832)

[0049] Taq DNA polymerase (M1-P291)Tne DNA polymerase (P295-E485) Taq DNA polymerase (E424-E832); silent mutation A1449C SEQ ID NO.:3

[0050] Taq DNA polymerase (M1-P291)Tne DNA polymerase (P295-V502) Taq DNA polymerase (L441-E832)

[0051] Taq DNA polymerase (M1-P291)Tne DNA polymerase (P295-G510) Taq DNA polymerase (V449-E832); silent mutation C1767T SEQ ID NO.:4

[0052] Taq DNA polymerase (M1-P302)Tne DNA polymerase (E316-D333) Taq DNA polymerase (A319-E347) Tne DNA polymerase (I381-M394) Taq DNA polymerase (R362-L380) Tne DNA polymerase (E415-T472)Taq DNA polymerase (E410-E832);

[0053] G308D/V310E/L352N/L356D/E401Y/R305D

[0054] Taq DNA polymerase (1-291)Pfu DNA polymerase (V100-R346) Taq DNA polymerase (E424-E832)

[0055] Taq DNA polymerase (1-291)Pfu DNA polymerase (H103-S334) Taq DNA polymerase (E424-E832); SEQ ID NO.:5

[0056] Taq DNA polymerase (1-291)Pfu DNA polymerase (V100-F389) Taq DNA polymerase (E424-E832)

[0057] Taq DNA polymerase (1-291)Pfu DNA polymerase (V100-F389) Taq DNA polymerase (V449-E832); SEQ ID NO.:6

[0058] Taq DNA polymerase (1-291)Pfu DNA polymerase (M1-F389) Taq DNA polymerase (V449-E832)

[0059] Of the above-mentioned polymerase chimeras the following were examined in more detail:

[0060] Taq DNA polymerase (M1-P291)E.coliDNA polymerase (Y327-H519) Taq DNA polymerase (E424-E832): point mutation A643G; Ile455Val (Taq Ec1) SEQ ID NO.:1

[0061] Taq DNA polymerase (M1-P291)E. coliDNA polymerase (Y327-G544) Taq DNA polymerase (V449-E832), (Taq Ec2) SEQ ID NO.:2

[0062] Taq DNA polymerase (M1-P291)Tne DNA polymerase (P295-E485) Taq DNA polymerase (E424-E832); silent mutation A1449C (Taq Tne1) SEQ ID NO.:3

[0063] Taq DNA polymerase (M1-P291)Tne DNA polymerase (P295-G510) Taq DNA polymerase (V449-E832); silent mutation C1767T (Taq Tne2) SEQ ID NO.:4

[0064] Taq DNA polymerase (1-291)Pfu DNA polymerase (V100-R346) Taq DNA polymerase (E424-E832), (Taq Pfu1) SEQ ID NO.:5

[0065] Taq DNA polymerase (1-291)Pfu DNA polymerase (V100-F389) Taq DNA polymerase (V449-E832), (Taq Pfu2) SEQ ID NO.:6

[0066] In order to select suitable DNA polymerases, multiple amino acid sequence alignments of available sequences of DNA polymerases and DNA binding proteins are established for example with the program GCG (Devereux et al., 1984, Nucl. Acids Res. 12, 387-395). In order to find a good alignment it is necessary to take into consideration the secondary structure predictions, known structure-based sequence alignments, known motifs and functionally essential amino acids as well as phylogenetic aspects. If the proteins are composed of functionally and structurally independent domains it is appropriate to firstly establish the amino acid sequence alignments with respect to the individual domains and only afterwards to combine them into a complete sequence alignment.

[0067] If homologous sequences are found whose tertiary structure is known, then it is possible to derive a 3D model structure from the homologous protein. The program BRAGI (Reichelt and Schomburg, 1988, J. Mol. Graph. 6, 161-165) can be used to make the model. The program AMBER (Weiner et al., 1984, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 106, 765-784) can be used for energy minimization of the structures of individual molecule regions and whole molecules and the program Procheck can be used to check the quality of the model. If only the Cα coordinates of the structure of the initial protein are available, the structure can for example be reconstructed using the program O (Jones et al., 1991, Acta Cryst. A47, 110-119). It is also possible to obtain Cα coordinates that are not available in the protein data bank but have been already published as a stereo picture by scanning the stereo picture and picking out the coordinates (for example using the program Magick) and calculating the z-coordinates (for example using the program stereo). Variants can be designed based on amino acid sequence alignments, based on 3D models or based on experimentally determined 3D structures.

[0068] In addition chimera variants were produced in which the domain with polymerase activity has reverse transcriptase activity. Examples of suitable polymerases are e.g. the polymerase from Anaerocellum thermophilumAth or Thermus thermophilumTth. The 3′-5′ exonuclease activity is inserted by a domain which is derived from another polymerase e.g. the Tne polymerase or the Pfu or Pwo polymerase. This chimera can additionally have 5′-3′ exonuclease activity in which case the domain with 5′ exonuclease activity can be derived from the first as well as from the second polymerase.

[0069] The recombinant hybrid polymerases HYB and HYBd5, like the DNA polymerase from Anaerocellum thermophilum,have a relatively strong reverse transcriptase activity in the presence of magnesium ions as well as in the presence of manganese ions. As shown in FIG. 22 the ratio of polymerase activity to reverse transcriptase activity is more favourable than with the Tth polymerase which is the most common and well-known enzyme of this type. This finding applies to the magnesium-dependent as well as to the manganese-dependent reverse transcriptase activity. It can be concluded from this that the polymerase domain which is derived from the Anaerocellum polymerase also exhibits full activity in the hybrid enzyme. The variant HYBd5 additionally has 3′-5′ exonuclease activity as shown in FIG. 21. This is inhibited by the presence of deoxynucleoside triphosphates as expected for the typical “proof-reading activity”. The exonuclease domain which is derived from the DNA polymerase from Thermotoge neapolitanais thus also active in the hybrid molecule. The ability to inhibit the exonuclease activity also demonstrates that both domains of the hybrid polymerase molecule interact and thus the hybrid polymerase is functionally very similar to the natural enzyme.

[0070] The production of domain exchange variants by genetic engineering can be achieved by PCR mutagenesis according to the SOE method (Horton et al. (1989) Gene 77, 61-68) or by the modified method (cf. scheme in the examples) with the aid of chemically synthesized oligodeoxynucleotides. The respective DNA fragments are separated on an agarose gel, isolated and ligated into the starting vector. pUC derivatives with suitable promoters such as pTE, pTaq, pPL, Bluescript can be used as starting vectors for E. coli.The plasmid DNA is transformed into an E. colistrain, for example XL1-blue, some clones are picked out and their plasmid DNA is isolated. It is also possible to use other strains such as Nova Blue, BL21 (DE), MC1000 etc. Of course it is also possible to clone into other organisms such as into yeast, plant and mammalian cells. A preselection of clones whose plasmid DNA is sequenced in the modified region is made by restriction analysis.

[0071] The gene expression in the target proteins can be induced by IPTG in many plasmids such as Pbtaq. When producing many different variants it is appropriate to establish a universal purification procedure. Affinity chromatography on Ni-NTA (nickel-nitrilotriacetic acid) agarose is well suited for this which can be used after attaching a His tag to the protein, for example by PCR. The protein concentrations can be determined with the protein assay ESL (Boehringer Mannheim) and contaminating side activities of the preparations can be determined as described for the commercially available Taq polymerase (Boehringer Mannheim). Polymerase, exonuclease activity and thermostability tests are carried out to further characterize the variants and the respective temperature optimum is determined. The polymerase activities of the chimeras can be determined in non-radioactive test systems for example by determining the incorporation rate of Dig-dUTP into DNase activated calf thymus DNA, or in radioactive test systems by for example determining the incorporation rate of α-[³²P]dCTP into M13 mp9 ssDNA. In order to determine the temperature optima of the polymerase activity of the chimeras, the polymerase reaction is carried out at different temperatures and the specific activities are calculated. The residual activities (i.e. the percentage of the initial activity without heat treatment) after heat treatment are measured in order to determine the thermal stabilities. The 3′-5′ exonuclease activity can be demonstrated by incorporation of a 5′-Dig-labelled primer which anneals to a DNA template strand starting at its 3′ end. The correction of 3′ mismatched primers and their extension (proof reading) can be shown by the extension of mismatched 5′-Dig-labelled primers which anneal to a template strand in the recognition sequence of a restriction enzyme (e.g. EcoRI). A cleavage with the restriction enzyme is only possible when the mismatch is corrected by the enzyme. The processivity can be examined by using variants in the PCR. If the enzyme is not sufficiently thermostable for use in PCR, a PCR can be carried out at the temperature optimum as the extension temperature with successive addition of enzyme. The exonuclease activity of the chimeras can be determined in a radioactive test system. For this a certain amount of the chimeric polymerases (usually 2.5 U) is incubated for 4 hours at various temperatures with labelled DNA (5 μg [³H] DNA in the respective test buffers). dNTPs were optionally added at various concentrations (0-0.2 mM). After terminating the reaction the release of radioactively labelled nucleotides is determined.

[0072] A further subject matter of the present invention is the DNA sequence of the polymerase chimeras described above. In particular the DNA sequences SEQ ID NO.: 1-6 are a subject matter of the present invention. The present invention additionally concerns the amino acid sequences of the polymerase chimera described above. In particular the amino acid sequences SEQ ID NO.: 7-12 are a subject matter of the present invention. Moreover the DNA sequence SEQ ID NO.:17 is a subject matter of the invention.

[0073] Vectors which contain the above-mentioned DNA sequences are a further subject matter of the present invention. pBTaq (plasmid Pbtaq4_oligo 67 (Villbrandt (1995), dissertation, TU Braunschweig)) is a preferred vector.

[0074] The E. colistrains, in particular the strain Escherichia coliXL1-blue which contain the vector which carries the polymerase chimera gene are a further subject matter of the invention. The following strains were deposited at the DSM, “Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen und Zellkulturen GmbH”, Mascheroder Weg 1b, D-38124 Braunschweig:

[0075] E.coliXL1 Blue×pBTaqEc1: TaqEc1 (SEQ ID NO:1) DSM No. 12053

[0076] E.coliXL1 Blue×pBTaqTne1:TaqTne1 (SEQ ID NO: 3) DSM No. 12050

[0077] E.coliXL1 Blue×pBTaqTne2:TaqTne2 (SEQ ID NO: 4) DSM No. 12051

[0078] E.coliXL1 Blue×pBTaqPfu1:TaqPfu1 (SEQ ID NO: 5) DSM No. 12052

[0079] The polymerase chimeras according to the invention are particularly suitable for amplifying DNA fragments e.g. for the polymerase chain reaction. A further application is for example to sequence DNA fragments.

[0080] A preferred vector for the Ath-Tne chimera is the following:

[0081] E.coliBL 21 (DE3) plysS×pETHYBR: HYBR

[0082] E.coliBL 21 (DE3) plysS×PETHYBR d5: HYBR d5

[0083] The E. colistrains which contain the vector which carries the polymerase chimera gene are a further subject matter of the invention. The following strains were deposited at the DSM, “Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen und Zellkulturen GmbH”, Mascheroder Weg 1b, D-38129 Braunschweig: HYBR (DSM No. 12720); HYBR d5 (DSM No. 12719).

[0084] The production of the above-mentioned Ath-Tne chimeras is described for example in examples 8-11. The chimeras according to the invention which have RT activity are particularly suitable for the reverse transcription of RNA.

[0085] A further subject matter of the present invention is a kit for amplifying DNA fragments which contains at least one of the polymerase chimeras according to the invention.

[0086] FIG. 1: DNA sequence of the Taq DNA polymerase (M1-P291) E. coliDNA polymerase (Y327-H519) Taq DNA polymerase (E424-E832): point mutation A643G; Ile455Val SEQ ID NO.:1; and the corresponding amino acid sequence SEQ ID NO.:7.

[0087] FIG. 2: DNA sequence of the Taq DNA polymerase (M1-P291) E. coliDNA polymerase (Y327-G544) Taq DNA polymerase (V449-E832); SEQ ID NO.:2; and the corresponding amino acid sequence SEQ ID NO.:8.

[0088] FIG. 3: DNA sequence of the Taq DNA polymerase (M1-P291) Tne DNA polymerase (P295-E485) Taq DNA polymerase (E424-E832); silent mutation A1449C SEQ ID NO.:3; and the corresponding amino acid sequence SEQ ID NO.: 9.

[0089] FIG. 4: DNA sequence of the Taq DNA polymerase (M1-P291) Tne DNA polymerase (P295-G510) Taq DNA polymerase (V449-E832); silent mutation C1767T SEQ ID NO.:4; and the corresponding amino acid sequence SEQ ID NO.:10.

[0090] FIG. 5: DNA sequence of the Taq DNA polymerase (1-291) Pfu DNA polymerase (H103-S334) Taq DNA polymerase (E424-E832); SEQ ID NO.:5; and the corresponding amino acid sequence SEQ ID NO.:11.

[0091] FIG. 6: DNA sequence of the Taq DNA polymerase (1-291) Pfu DNA polymerase (V100-F389) Taq DNA polymerase (-V449-E832); SEQ ID NO.:6; and the corresponding amino acid sequence SEQ ID NO.:12.

[0092] FIG. 7: Purification of the domain exchange variant TaqEc1 on Ni-NTA agarose. Analysis on an 8% polyacrylamide gel stained with Coomassie blue.

[0093] FIG. 8: Determination of protein purity: SDS-PAGE, Phast system (10-15%): silver staining MW: protein molecular weight markers; NHis-TaqPol: Taq DNA polymerase with N-terminal His tag; TaqEc1, TaqTne1, TaqTne2: domain exchange variants.

[0094] FIG. 9: Specific activities of the domain exchange variants at various temperatures.

[0095] FIG. 10: Testing the domain exchange variants in the PCR with successive addition of enzyme, extension at 72° C.

[0096] lambda DNA (left): size of the target sequence=500 bp

[0097] plasmid pa (right): size of the target sequence=250 bp

[0098] lane 1: Taq DNA polymerase (BM Co.), 100 ng, 5 units

[0099] lane 2: domain exchange variant TaqEc1, 500 ng, 1.25 units/cycle

[0100] lane 3: domain exchange variant TaqTne1, 50 ng, 3.6 units/cycle

[0101] lane 4: domain exchange variant TaqTne2, 50 ng, 3.5 units/cycle

[0102] III: DNA length standard III (BM Co.)

[0103] VI: DNA length standard VI (BM Co.).

[0104] Result: When the domain exchange variant TaqTne2 was used, PCR products of the correct size were formed.

[0105] FIG. 11: Testing the domain exchange variants in the PCR with successive addition of enzyme, extension at 55° C.

[0106] lambda DNA (left): size of the target sequence=500 bp

[0107] plasmid pa (right): size of the target sequence=250 bp

[0108] lane 1: domain exchange variant TaqEc1, 500 ng, 6 units/cycle

[0109] lane 2: domain exchange variant TaqTne1, 50 ng, 7.5 units/cycle

[0110] III: DNA length standard III (BM Co.)

[0111] VI: DNA length standard VI (BM Co.).

[0112] Result: When the domain exchange variant TaqEc1 was used, PCR products of the correct size were formed.

[0113] FIG. 12: 3′-5′ exonuclease test-variant TaqEc1, incubation at 72° C., primer P1.

[0114] FIG. 13: 3′-5′ exonuclease test-variant TaqEc1, incubation at 50° C., primer P1 (left), primer P2 (right).

[0115] FIG. 14: Correction of 3′ mismatched primers and their extension—variant TaqEc1 (3′ mismatch primer correction assay) (−): without restriction enzyme digestion (+): restriction enzyme digestion with EcoRI.

[0116] FIG. 15: Schematic representation Degradation of primers at the 3′ end (3′-5′ exonuclease assay) and correction of 3′ mismatched primers and their extension (3′ mismatch primer correction assay).

[0117] FIG. 16: Schematic representation: simplified flow chart, degradation of primers at the 3′ end and correction of 3′ mismatched primers and extension.

[0118] FIG. 17: CLUSTAL W (1.5) multiple sequence alignment of the Ath, Tne, PolI polymerase genes as well as of the predicted gene of the polymerase chimera. The part of the chimera sequence which is derived from Tne is underlined.

[0119] FIG. 18: A. Structure of the primers which were used for the PCR amplification of the Tne-Exo and the Ath polymerase domains. B. Part of the amino acid sequence alignment of two polymerases which exhibited the selected crossing point. C. Nucleotide sequence and position of the primers which were designed for the construction of the hybrid polymerase gene. The sequences of the primers which are not complementary to the target sequence are shown in small letters. Complementary “overlapping” sequences in the TNELOW and ATHUP primers are double underlined.

[0120] FIG. 19: A. Part of the alignment of the Ath and Tne amino acid sequences which show the homologous region that was used to splice together the domains of the two polymerases. B. Nucleotide and amino acid sequence of the two polymerases in the splicing region. The figure shows the single BamHI cleavage site in the Tne DNA sequence and the sequence of the two oligos that were constructed in order to introduce the BamHI cleavage site into the Ath polymerase.

[0121] FIG. 20: Construction of the gene of the polymerase chimera (cf. also example 8).

[0122] FIG. 21: 3′-5′ exonuclease activity of the recombinant DNA polymerase.

[0123] 1-DNA of the lambda phage hydrolyzed by HindIII

[0124] 2-DNA of the lambda phage hydrolyzed by HindIII, and dNTP, and recombinant DNA polymerase

[0125] 3-DNA of the lambda phage hydrolyzed by HindIII, without dNTP, with recombinant DNA polymerase

[0126] 4-DNA of the lambda phage hydrolyzed by HindIII.

[0127] FIG. 22: Reverse transcriptase activity of the recombinant polymerases HYB and HYBd5. The DNA polymerase activity of a 2 μl extract from E. coliBL21 (DE3) plyss×pETHYBr and E. coliBL21 (DE3) plyss×pETHYBRd5 was determined with a precision of 0.05 units. These amounts were used to determine the reverse transcriptase activity of the hybrid polymerases and the effect of 1 mM manganese or 4 mM magnesium ions. The controls were Tth (0.25 units) as a manganese-dependent reverse transcriptase and C. therm.polymerase (Roche Molecular Biochemicals) as a magnesium-dependent reverse transcriptase.

[0128] Establishing a universal purification procedure

[0129] Affinity chromatography on Ni-NTA (nickel-nitrilotriacetic acid) agarose was used to standardize the purification protocol for the domain exchange variants. Before producing the protein variants it was necessary to attach or insert a His tag to or into the Taq DNA polymerase. Two different His tag variants in the plasmid Pbtaq4_oligo67 (Boehringer Mannheim) were designed and produced. The variant NHis-TaqPol contains an N-terminal His tag, an enterokinase cleavage site to optionally cleave the His tag and an epitope for the detection of His tag proteins with antibodies (Quiagen). It was produced by PCR from the EcoRI site up to the PstI site. In the N-terminal protein sequencing the twenty N-terminal amino acids of the variant NHis-TaqPol were confirmed as correct.

[0130] Sequence: NHis-TaqPol

[0131] SEQ ID No.:13: 5′ G AA TTC ATG AGG GGC TCG CAT CAC CAT CAC CAT CAC GCT GCT GAC GAT GAC GAT AAA ATG AGG GGC 3′

[0132] SEQ ID No.:14: Met Arg Gly Ser His His His His His His Ala Ala Asp Asp Asp Asp Lys Met Arg Gly

[0133] The variant 5DHis-TaqPol contains a His tag in a flexible loop of the 5′ nuclease domain between glycine 79 and glycine 80 of the Taq DNA polymerase and was produced by PCR mutagenesis from the EcoRI site up to the PstI site.

[0134] Sequence: 5DHis-TaqPol

[0135] SEQ ID No.: 15

[0136] SEQ ID No.: 16

[0137] 5′ GAG GCC TAC GGG CAT CAC CAT CAC CAT CAC GGG TAC AAG GCG 3′ GluAlaTyrGlyHisHisHisHisHisHisGlyTyrLysAla

[0138] The correctness of the plasmid DNA in each modified region of the two new genes was confirmed by DNA sequencing. Both modified genes were expressed under the same conditions and at the same rate as the initial protein without a His tag, they could be readily purified by Ni-NTA agarose and behaved like Taq polymerase without a His tag in the standard PCR. The N-terminal His tag was used to purify the domain exchange variants.

[0139] Amino acid sequence alignments

[0140] The following amino acid sequence alignments were set up in order to design the domain exchange variants:

[0141] 1. Tne, E. coliI and Taq DNA polymerase

[0142] 2. Pfu, E. coliI and Taq DNA polymerase

[0143] 3. Multiple amino acid sequence alignments of DNA polymerases

[0144] The alignments were established with the program GCG with reference to individual molecule regions (domains) and assembled to form the complete sequence alignment taking into consideration the known secondary structures, motifs and essential amino acids and using the structure-based sequence alignment of the sequences of the 3′-5′ exonuclease domain of the Klenow fragment with the corresponding domain of Taq DNA polymerase (FIG. 2din Kim et al. (1995) Nature 376, 612-616).

[0145] In order to select the initial structure of the Klenow fragment for the homology modelling, the structures of E. coliDNA polymerase I that were available at that time were compared using the program Bragi and an RMS fit:

[0146] Klenow fragment-dCMP complex (PDB code: 1 dpi), 2.8 Å (1987), Klenow fragment-dCTP complex (PBD-code: 1 kfd) 3.9 Å (1993) and Klenow fragment, D355A—DNA complex (PBD-code: 1 kln) 3.2 Å (1994).

[0147] The structure Klenow fragment (PDB-code: 1 kln) was selected. Two loops were incorporated into the two regions in which there were no coordinates (Bragi program) and energy-minimized (Amber program). The quality of the protein structure was checked (Procheck program).

[0148] Construction of 3D models

[0149] A 3D model of the molecular region of the Taq DNA polymerase which comprises amino acids 292-832 was constructed using the Bragi program in homology to the structure of the Klenow fragment (PDB-code: 1 kln). The modelling comprised amino acid substitutions, introduction of insertions and deletions, energy-minimization of the new loop regions and energy-minimization of the entire molecule (Amber program).

[0150] The structure of Taq DNA polymerase was already published at the time of the modelling work but was not available in the protein data bank. In order to set up a model of the intermediate domain of the Taq DNA polymerase which corresponds to the 3′-5′ exonuclease domain of the Klenow fragment (amino acids 292-423), a stereo picture (FIG. 2cin Kim et al. (1995) Nature 376, 612-616) was scanned, the Cα coordinates were picked out on the screen (x and y coordinates for the left and right picture) (Magick program, (John Cristy, E.I. du Pont De Nemours and Company Incorporated)), the z coordinates were calculated (Stereo program, (Collaborative Computational Project, Number 4 (1994) Acta Cryst. D50, 760-763)), the protein main chain was reconstructed with generation of a poly-alanine (program O), amino acid substitutions were carried out (Bragi program) and an energy-minimization of the entire molecule was carried out (Amber program). The model of the amino acid residues 292-423 (see above) was added to the model of the polymerase domain (amino acids 424-832) (see above) while allowing for the structural alignments of the Taq DNA polymerase with the Klenow fragment (FIGS. 2band 2cin Kim et al. (1995) Nature 376, 612-616). The entire model structure was energy-minimized (Amber program) and the quality of the model structure was checked (Procheck program, (Laskowski, R., A., et al. (1993) J. Appl. Cryst. 26, 283-291)).

[0151] A 3D model of the Tne DNA polymerase (residues 297-893) was set up in homology to the structure of the Klenow fragment (PDB-code: 1 kln). The modelling included amino acid substitutions, introduction of insertions and deletions (Bragi program), energy-minimization of the new loop regions, energy-minimization of the entire molecule (Amber program) and checking the quality of the model structure (Procheck program).

[0152] 20 Protein variants were designed.

[0153] They were based on the 3D structure models when using E. colipolI and Tne polymerase, and based on the amino acid alignments when using the Pfu polymerase.

[0154] Production of the domain exchange variants by genetic engineering

[0155] The N-terminal His tag was inserted by PCR and the domain exchange variants were produced by a modified SOE method (Horton et al. (1989) Gene 77, 61-68), shown in the scheme with the aid of chemically synthesized oligodeoxynucleotides. The respective DNA fragments were separated on an agarose gel, isolated using the QIAquick gel extraction kit (Qiagen company) according to the protocol supplied and used in PCR reactions I to IV in the subsequent PCR reaction or in the case of the PCR reaction V they were recleaved with the two restriction enzymes whose recognition sequence was located in the flanking primers (EcoRI and Pst I). The ligation of DNA fragments and the production and transformation of competent XL1 Blue E. Colicells by electroporation was carried out as described by Villbrandt (1995, Dissertation, TU Braunschweig). Several clones were picked out and their plasmid DNA was isolated according to the protocol supplied using the QIAprep Spin Plasmid Kit (Qiagen company). Microbiological working techniques and the formulations for preparing liquid or plate media as well as the establishment of glycerin cultures was carried out as described in the handbook by Sambrook et al. (1989, Molecular cloning—a laboratory manual, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.). The domain exchange variants were expressed at the same rate as the initial protein.

[0156] Purification of the domain exchange variants

[0157] All domain exchange variants were isolated by the same protocol from Escherichia coliXL1-Blue. The fermentation was carried out for 16 hours at 37° C. on a one liter scale in LB medium/100 mg/ml ampicillin/12.5 mg/ml tetraycycline/1 mM IPTG. The cells were centrifuged, taken up in 20 ml lysis buffer (50 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.5, 10 mM 2-mercaptoethanol, 1 mM PMSF), frozen at −70° C. for at least 16 hours and treated for 10 minutes with ultrasound. The cell debris was centrifuged and the sterile-filtered supernatant was applied to an Ni-NTA (nickel-nitriloacetic acid) agarose column (Qiagen) with a column volume of 3.5 ml (r=0.65 cm, h=2.7 cm). It was washed with 40 ml buffer A (20 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.5, 100 mM KCl, 20 mM imidazole, 10 mM 2-mercaptoethanol, 10% (v/v) glycerol), subsequently with 10 ml buffer B (20 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.5, 1 M KCl, 20 mM imidazole, 10 mM 2-mercaptoethanol, 10% (v/v) glycerol) and again with 10 ml buffer A. It was eluted with 15 ml buffer C (20 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.5, 100 mM KCl, 100 mM imidazole, 10 mM 2-mercaptoethanol, 10% (v/v) glycerol). The flow rate was 0.5 ml/minute and the fraction size was 10 ml with the wash fractions and 1 ml for the elution fractions. The combined fractions were dialysed against storage buffer (20 mM Tris-HCl pH 8.0, 100 mM KCl, 0.1 mM EDTA, 1 mM DTT, 0.5% Tween 20, 50% glycerol) and 200 μg/ml gelatin and Nonidet P40 at a final concentration of 0.5% were added. The protein solutions were stored at −20° C.

[0158] The analysis of the purification of the domain exchange variant TaqEc1 on Ni-NTA agarose is shown in FIG. 7.

[0159] Determination of the protein concentration

[0160] The protein concentrations were determined by measuring the OD₂₈₀and with the protein assay ESL (Boehringer Mannheim). FIG. 8 shows the determination of the protein purity: SDS-PAGE, Phast system (10-15%): silver staining.

[0161] The polymerase activities of the chimeras were determined in a non-radioactive test system. A radioactive test system was used to adjust the values. The incorporation rate of Dig-dUTP into DN'ase-activated calf thymus DNA was determined in the non-radioactive test system. A 50 μl test mix contained 5 μl buffer mix (500 mM Tris-HCl, 150 mM (NH₄)₂SO₄, 100 mM KCl, 70 mM MgCl₂, 100 mM 2-mercaptoethanol, pH 8.5), 100 μM each of dATP, dCTP, dGTP, dTTP, 36 nM Dig-dUTP (Boehringer Mannheim), 12 μg calf thymus DNA (DN'ase-activated), 10 μg bovine serum albumin and 2 μl chimeric enzyme or 0.02 units Taq polymerase (Boehringer Mannheim) as a reference in dilution buffer (20 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.0, 100 mM KCl, 0.1 mM EDTA, 1 mM DTT, 200 μg/ml gelatin, 0.5% Tween 20, 0.5% Nonidet P40, 50% glycerol). The reaction mixtures were incubated for 30 minutes at various temperatures. The reactions were stopped on ice. 5 μl of each reaction mixture was pipetted into white membrane-coated microtitre plates (Pall BioSupport, SM045BWP) and baked for 10 minutes at 70° C. The membrane of the microtitre plate was treated as follows using the accompanying suction trough (Pall Bio Support): apply 100 μl buffer 1 (1% blocking reagent (Boehringer Mannheim) in 0.1 M maleic acid, 0.15 M NaCl, pH 7.5), incubate for 2 minutes, suck through, repeat once; apply 100 μl buffer 2 (1:10000 diluted anti-Dig-AP-Fab fragment antibodies (Boehringer Mannheim) in buffer 1), incubate for 2 minutes, suck through, repeat once; apply 200 μl buffer 3 (buffer 1 containing 0.3% Tween 20) under vacuum, repeat once; apply 200 μl buffer 4 (0.1 M Tris-HCl, 0.1 M NaCl, 50 mM MgCl₂, pH 9.5) under vacuum; apply 50 μl buffer 5 (1:100 diluted CSPD (Boehringer Mannheim) in buffer 4), incubate for 5 minutes, suck through. The samples were measured in a luminometer (Microluminar LB 96P, Berthold or Wallac Micro Beta Trilux).

[0162] In the radioactive test system the incorporation rate of α-[³²P]dCTP into 1 μg M13mp9 ss-DNA was determined. A 50 μl test mix contained 5 μl buffer mix (670 mM Tris-HCl, 50 mM MgCl₂, 100 mM 2-mercaptoethanol, 2% Tesit, 2 mg/ml gelatin, pH 8.8), 10 μM each of dATP, dGTP, dTTP, 5 μM CTP, 0.1 μCi [α-³²P]dCTP, 1 μg M13mp9ss DNA annealed with 0.3 μg M13 primer and 1 μl chimeric enzyme or 0.01 units Taq polymerase (Boehringer Mannheim) as a reference in dilution buffer (20 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.0, 100 mM KCl, 0.1 mM EDTA, 1 mM DTT, 200 μg/ml gelatin, 0.5% Tween 20, 0.5% Nonidet P40, 50% glycerol). In order to prepare the DNA primer mixture, 277.2 μg M13mp9ssDNA (Boehringer Mannheim) and 156 μg M13 sequencing primer (17mer) were heated for 30 minutes to 55° C. and cooled for 30 minutes to room temperature. The reaction mixtures were incubated for 30 minutes at 65° C. The reactions were stopped on ice. 25 μl of each of the reaction solutions was removed and pipetted into 250 μl 10% trichloroacetic acid (TCA)/0.01 M sodium pyrophosphate (PPi), mixed and incubated for 30 minutes on ice. The samples were aspirated over pre-soaked GFC filters (Whatman), the reaction vessels were washed out with 5% TCA/PPi and the filters were washed at least three times with the same solution. After drying, the filters were measured in a β-counter in 5 ml scintillation liquid. The enzyme samples were diluted in enzyme dilution buffer. 1 μl aliquots of the dilutions were used. Duplicate or triplicate determinations were carried out. The Taq DNA polymerase from the Boehringer Mannheim Company was used as a reference.

[0163] One unit is defined as the amount of enzyme that is necessary to incorporate 10 nM deoxyribonucleotide triphosphate into acid-precipitatable DNA at 65° C. in 30 minutes. In order to determine the standard values, 2 μl aliquots of the total mixture were pipetted onto a dry filter and dried. The blank value was determined by also incubating samples without enzyme and washing them identically.

[0164] The temperature optima were determined using the non-radioactive DNA polymerase test at various temperatures.

[0165] The thermal stability was determined by heating the reaction mixtures to 80° C. and 95° C. for one, three or six minutes and subsequently determining the residual activities using the non-radioactive DNA polymerase test (see FIG. 9).

[0166] Table: residual activities (percent of the initial activity without heat treatment) at 72° C. of the Taq DNA polymerase (TaqPol), the Taq DNA polymerase with a His tag (NHis-TaqPol) and the three domain exchange variants (TaqEc1, TaqTne1, TaqTne2) after heat treatment (incorporation of Dig-dUTP into DN'ase-activated calf thymus DNA).

[0167] The polymerase chimeras were tested in a PCR with successive addition of enzyme. The extension was carried out at 72° C. (FIG. 10) and at 55° C. (FIG. 11). Each of the reactions mixtures with a reaction volume of 100 μl contained 1 ng lambda DNA or pa-plasmid DNA (BM Co.), 1 μM of each primer (25-mer), 200 μM of each of the dNTPs and standard PCR buffer containing MgCl₂(Boehringer Mannheim). The reaction conditions were:

[0168] For extension at 72° C.: 1 minute 94° C./30 seconds 50° C. /1 minute 72° C.//25 cycles, 2 minutes at 94° C. before and 7 minutes at 72° C. after the PCR reaction. 0.5 μl of the domain exchange variants was added per cycle at 50° C.

[0169] For extension at 55° C.: 1 minute 95° C./30 seconds 50° C./1 minute 55° C.//25 cycles, 2 minutes at 95° C. before and 7 minutes at 55° C. after the PCR reaction. 0.5 μl of the domain exchange variants was added per cycle at 50° C.

[0170] The samples were incubated in the absence of nucleotides with a 5′-Dig-labelled primer which anneals to a DNA template strand. 10 μl test mix contained 1 μl buffer (100 mM Tris-HCl, 15 mM MgCl₂, 500 mM KCl, 0.1 mg/ml gelatin, pH 8.3), 1 μl enzyme TaqEc1 (500 units/μl), 1 pmol template strand (50-mer, see scheme) and 500 fmol 5′-Dig-labelled primer P1 (matched, 23mer, see scheme) or P2 (mismatched, 23mer, see scheme). The reaction mixtures were incubated at 50° C. for various incubation periods. The DNA fragments were separated on a 12.5% acrylamide gel (SequaGel Kit, Medco Company) and transferred onto a nylon membrane (Boehringer Mannheim) by contact blotting. The nylon membrane was treated as follows: 100 ml buffer 1 (1% blocking reagent (Boehringer Mannheim) in 0.1 M maleic acid, 0.15 M NaCl, pH 7.5), incubate for 30 minutes; 100 ml buffer 2 (1:10000 diluted anti-Dig-AP Fab fragment antibody (Boehringer Mannheim) in buffer 1), incubate for 30 minutes; 135 ml buffer 3 each time (buffer 1 containing 0.3% Tween 20), wash three times for 30 minutes; 50 ml buffer 4 (0.1 M Tris-HCl, 0.1 M NaCl, 50 mM MgCl₂, pH 9.5), incubate for 5 minutes; 50 ml buffer 5 (1:1000 diluted CPD star (Boehringer Mannheim) in buffer 4), incubate for 5 minutes. The nylon membrane was dried on Watman paper and exposed for 30 to 60 minutes on a chemiluminescence film (Boehringer Mannheim) for the chemiluminescence detection. If a 3′-5′ exonuclease is present, the degradation of the primer at the 3′ end is visible (see figures). The Taq polymerase with a His tag (NHis-TaqPol) was used as a negative control and the UITma DNA polymerase was used as a positive control. For both control enzymes the reactions mixtures were incubated at 72° C. The reaction buffer of the manufacturer was used for the UITma DNA polymerase. FIGS. 12 and 13 show the 3′-5′ exonuclease test variant TaqEc1.

[0171] Dig-labelled primers which anneal to a template strand (50 mer, see scheme) were extended in four different experiments. The primers were a matched primer (P1, 23mer, see scheme) and two different mismatched primers (P2, P3, 23mers, see scheme) which anneal in the recognition sequence of the restriction enzyme EcoRI. A 20 μl test mix contained 1 μl buffer (100 mM Tris-HCl, 15 mM MgCl₂, 500 mM KCl, 0.1 mg/ml gelatin, pH 8.3), 1 μl enzyme TaqEc1 (500 units/μl), 10 μM each of dATP, dCTP, dGTP, dTTP, 1 pmol template strand and 500 fmol of each 5′-Dig-labelled primer P1 (matched) or P2 (mismatched) or P3 (mismatched). The reaction mixtures were incubated for 60 minutes at 50° C. and afterwards heated for 5 minutes to 95° C. 10 μl aliquots were removed and cleaved for 30 minutes at 37° C. with 10 units EcoRI. The DNA fragments were separated on a 12.5% acrylamide gel (SequaGel Kit, Medco Company) and transferred by contact blot onto a nylon membrane (Boehringer Mannheim). The nylon membrane was treated as described above and exposed for 30 to 60 minutes on a chemiluminescence film (Boehringer Mannheim). When the matched primer was used, the digestion with EcoRI resulted in a 28 bp and a 18 bp fragment. The mismatched primers yield this result only when mismatched nucleotides are replaced by matched nucleotides (see FIG. 14).

[0172] Computer prediction

[0173] The structure of the chimeric polymerase gene was derived from the sequence alignment (Thompson, J. D. Higgins, D. G. and Gibson, T. J. Nucleic Acids Research, 1994, 22: 4673-4680) between the polymerases and the E. coliPOLI gene—the sequence with the highest correspondence with the resolved 3D structure in the data bank of Brookhaven (for the Klenow fragment). The pair alignments showed a correspondence of ca. 40% and hence the 1KLN structure can presumably be regarded as the best possible prototype. In order to ensure a smooth transition from one structure to the other, the crossing point should be located in an area which has a high similarity with all three proteins from the point of view of multiple alignments. The crossing point should therefore be between the polymerase and 3′-5′ exonuclease domain (FIGS. 17, 18).

[0174] Construction of a hybrid polymerase gene and expression vectors.

[0175] Computer predictions and simulations serve as a basis for the construction of a hybrid gene. PCR amplification and subcloning were used as methods to obtain the ATH POL and TNE EXO domains in which two primer pairs having the structure shown in FIG. 18 were used. The primers have sequences which are specific for the N- and C-ends of the respective genes and for the connecting sequence in the middle of the gene as shown in FIGS. 2B, C. The overlap of 12 bases in the ATHUP and TNELOW primers was designed for the subsequent reconstruction of the hybrid gene and, furthermore, inserted in an unequivocal SalI restriction site which can be used for further modifications with polymerase domains. The overhangs of the 5′ sequence of the TNEUP and ATHLOW primers code for the restriction sites NcoI and HindIII for the later subcloning of the required fragments in the expression vector.

[0176] However, applying this strategy requires extensive sequencing of the subcloned regions. For this reason an additional construct was built and the splice connection between the genes was moved to another position i.e. 42 amino acids further below the original connecting position to a region between the polymerases which has a higher similarity. An advantage of the new design is the unequivocal BamHI sequence within the TNE polymerase sequence containing the proposed splice connection. In order to construct the hybrid gene, a BamHI sequence was incorporated into the ATH polymerase sequence which is subsequently used to assemble parts of the gene by a directed mutagenesis. The amino acids and nucleotide sequence of the new compound is shown in FIG. 19.

[0177] The hybrid polymerase gene was constructed as described in FIG. 20 by multiple subcloning, directed mutagenesis and sequencing steps.

[0178] All fragments obtained by the PCR amplification were sequenced starting at the ends up to the unequivocal restriction sites used in the subsequent subcloning steps. In order to ensure the accuracy of the amplification the PCR reactions were carried out with Vent polymerase (New England Biolabs). The directed mutagenesis was carried out using the “Quick Change” method (Stratagene).

[0179] The plasmids pETHYBR and pETHYBRd5 were transformed in the E. colistrain BL21 (DE3) plySS from Novagene and led to the expression of T7 polymerase.

[0180] The expression of the hybrid POL gene was monitored in the extracts of recombinant strains by measuring the DNA polymerase activity using the activated DNA assay. The following conditions were used.

[0181] 1) The recombinant E. colistrains were cultured in LB medium containing 100 mcg/ml ampicillin+30 mcg/ml chloroamphenicol (for pETHYBR and pETHYBRd5 in BL21 (DE3) plysS) or in 20 ml LB medium containing 100 mcg/ml ampicillin+30 mcg/ml kanamycin (pARHYBd5 in JM109/pSB1611).

[0182] 2) The cultures were shaken at 37° C. to an optical density of OD 550 ˜0.6-0.7; then the cultures were cooled to 25°-28° C., IPTG was added to a final concentration of 1 mM. The incubation was then continued at 25-30° C: For two pET vectors the density of non-induced cultures after 4 hours incubation was OD 550 ˜2.2 and for induced cultures ˜1.5.

[0183] 3) Protein extracts of BL21 (DE3) plysS strains were produced by pelleting 5 ml aliquots of the cultures; the cell pellets were then resuspended in 100 μl termination buffer containing 40 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.0, 0.1 mM EDTA, 7 mM 2-mercaptoethanol, 0.2 mM PMSF, 0.1% Triton X-100. The cell extracts were prepared by freezing and thawing the cell suspension in two cycles in liquid nitrogen/warm water bath; then a KCl solution was added to a final concentration of 0.75 M and the extracts of the induced and non-induced cultures were heated for 15 min at 72° C, pelleted and used to measure the polymerase activity; this was carried out in an activated DNA assay (100 mcg/ml activated DNA, 3 mM MgSO₄, 50 mM Tris-HCl, pH 8.9, 0.1% Triton X-100, 70 μM dA-P33, 5-10 μCi/ml) in a volume of 20 μl using 2 μl heated cell extracts.

[0184] The results are shown in the following table:

[0185] Relative DNA polymerase activity in extracts of recombinant strains (% incorporation of labels, mean of 3 independent measurements)

[0186] These data show that both versions of the hybrid polymerase gene could be expressed with the pET vector system.

[0187] Characterization of the recombinant hybrid polymerase.

[0188] Thermal stability

[0189] The thermal stability of recombinant polymerases was determined by heating the extract of the E. colistrain for various periods (10, 30, 60, 120 minutes) at 95° C. It turned out that the completely formed as well as the shortened hybrid polymerase were not sufficiently stable (100% inactive after a 10 minute incubation at 95° C). The degree of expression of the recombinant polymerases was evaluated by analysing the heated cell extracts in 10% SDS PAAG; since no visible difference was found between the induced and non-induced cultures, it may be concluded that the production of hybrid polymerases does not exceed 1% of the total soluble protein.

[0190] Proof-reading activity

[0191] The proof-reading activity of the recombinant DNA polymerase derived from pETHYBRd5, e.g. Klenow fragment was tested according to the same protocol which was also used for the archaeal DNA. It turned out that the recombinant enzyme has proof reading activity.

[0192] Reverse transcriptase activity

[0193] The following reaction mixture was used to determine the reverse transcriptase activity: 1 μg polydA-(dT)₁₅, 330 μM TTP, 0.36 μM digoxigenin-dUTP, 200 μg/ml BSA, 10 mM Tris HCl, pH 8.5, 20 mM KCl. The concentration of MgCl₂in the reaction mixture varied between 0.5 and 10 mM. DTE was added at a concentration of 10 mM.

[0194] 2 μl recombinant DNA polymerase (derived from pETHYBRd5, e.g. Klenow fragment) was added to the reaction mixture and incubated for 15 min at 50° C. Tth DNA polymerase containing Mn²⁺was added as a positive control. After stopping the reaction, the mixture was applied to a positively charged nylon membrane (BM). The incorporated digoxigenin was detected by means of the BM protocol, 1995.

[0195] It turned out that the recombinant enzymes (Klenow fragment) have reverse transcriptase activity (FIG. 22). The activity is dependent on the presence of Mn²⁺(optimal concentration 1 mM). The presence of Mg²⁺had moreover an additional stimulating effect (optimal Mg²⁺concentration 4 mM).

[0196] Abbreviations for the restriction sequences—B-BamHI, Bsp-BspHI, H-HindIII, N-NcoI, R-EcoRI, S-SalI, Sn-SnaI, X-XhoI, Xm-XmaI

[0197] 1. PCR amplification of the ATH POL domain using the primers ATH UP and ATHLOW and the pARHis10 plasmid containing the complete polymerase gene in the vector pTrcHISB and subcloning in the pSK+Bluescript plasmid→pBSAT. The insertion was sequenced from the flanking primers and it turned out that due to an error during the primer synthesis, a single base in the ATHUP primer sequence had been deleted.

[0198] 2. Directed mutagenesis of the plasmid pARHis10 with primers m1 and m2 using the “Quick change” procedure (Stratagene) to incorporate the BamHI sequence at position 1535→pARHis10mut.

[0199] 3. PCR amplification of the TNE EXO domain using the primers TNEUP and TNELOW on the template of the pTNEC2 plasmid and subcloning in the SmaI cut puC19 plasmid→pTEX1 and pTEX2 with different orientations of the incorporation.

[0200] 3. Subcloning the 1444 bp XhoI-BamHI fragment from the pTNEC2 plasmid containing the “LONG” EXO domain in the XhoI-BamHI cut plasmid pTEX1→pTEXL.

[0201] 5. Incorporation of the complete ATH polymerase gene as a 2553 bp BamHI-HindII fragment in BamHI-HindIII cut pTEXL→pTEXLATF.

[0202] 6. Substitution of the XmaI-SnaI fragment of the pTEXLATF plasmid by the 1094 bp XmaI-SnaI fragment from the pARHis10nut plasmid containing the incorporated BamHI sequence→pTEXLATF*.

[0203] 7. Incorporation of the 4214 bp NcoIHindII fragment from pTEXLATF* into the NcoI-HindII cut pET21d vector→pETNAT.

[0204] 8. Deletion of the 1535 bp BamHI fragment coding for the N-terminal domain of the ATH polymerase from the PETNAT plasmid; this leads to an in-frame joining of the TNE EXOL and ATH POL sequences→pETHYBR.

[0205] 9. Substitution of the 1661 bp NcoI-BamHI fragment of pETHYBR by the 829 bp BspHI-BamHI fragment from pETNAT; this leads to the use of Met284 of the TNE polymerase as the starting codon and to deletion of the N-terminal domain with the assumed 5′-3′ exonuclease activity→pETHYBRd5.