Molecular cloning of Drosophila mus308, a gene involved in DNA cross-link repair with homology to prokaryotic DNA polymerase I genes.

Mutations in the Drosophila mus308 gene confer specific hypersensitivity to DNA-cross-linking agents as a consequence of defects in DNA repair. The mus308 gene is shown here to encode a 229-kDa protein in which the amino-terminal domain contains the seven conserved motifs characteristic of DNA and RNA helicases and the carboxy-terminal domain shares over 55% sequence similarity with the polymerase domains of prokaryotic DNA polymerase I-like enzymes. This is the first reported member of this family of DNA polymerases in a eukaryotic organism, as well as the first example of a single polypeptide with homology to both DNA polymerase and helicase motifs. Identification of a closely related gene in the genome of Caenorhabditis elegans suggests that this novel polypeptide may play an evolutionarily conserved role in the repair of DNA damage in eukaryotic organisms.