Cloning and Characterization of a New Site-Specific Methyl-Directed ElmI Endonuclease Recognizing and Cleaving C5-methylated DNA Sequence 5'-G(5mC)^NG(5mC)-3'.

Putative open reading frames of MD-endonucleases have been identified in Enterobacteria genomes as a result of the search for amino acid sequences homologous to MD-endonuclease BisI. A highly conserved DNA primary structure of these open reading frames in different genera of Enterobacteria (Escherichia, Klebsiella and Cronobacter) has allowed researchers to create primers for PCR screening, which was carried out on Enterobacteria DNA collected from natural sources. The DNA fragment, about 440 bp in length, was amplified by use of the genomic DNA of a wild E.