Structural and functional characterization of Cys4 zinc finger motif in the recombination mediator protein RecR.

Zinc finger motif widely exists in protein structure, which can play different roles in different proteins. RecR is an important recombination mediator protein (RMP) in the RecFOR pathway and zinc finger motif is the most conserved domain in RecR protein. However, the function of this zinc finger motif in RecR is unclear. Here, we have studied the structures of the single cysteine and double cysteines mutation within the zinc finger motif in Thermoanaerobacter tengcongensis RecR (TTERecR). We have also studied the DNA binding ability as well as TTERecO protein binding ability of single, double and even triple cysteines mutation of the zinc finger motif, and the mutants do not alter DNA binding by RecR nor the interaction between RecR and RecO. The function of TTERecR zinc finger motif is to maintain the stability of the three-dimensional structure.