PspGI, a type II restriction endonuclease from the extreme thermophile Pyrococcus sp.: structural and functional studies to investigate an evolutionary relationship with several mesophilic restriction enzymes.

We present here the first detailed biochemical analysis of an archaeal restriction enzyme. PspGI shows sequence similarity to SsoII, EcoRII, NgoMIV and Cfr10I, which recognize related DNA sequences. We demonstrate here that PspGI, like SsoII and unlike EcoRII or NgoMIV and Cfr10I, interacts with and cleaves DNA as a homodimer and is not stimulated by simultaneous binding to two recognition sites.