Non-Enzymatic DNA Cleavage Reaction Induced by 5-Ethynyluracil in Methylamine Aqueous Solution and Application to DNA Concatenation

DNA can be concatenated by hybridization of DNA fragments with protruding single-stranded termini. DNA cleavage occurring at a nucleotide containing a DNA base analogue is a useful method to obtain DNA with designed protruding termini. Here, we report a novel non-enzymatic DNA cleavage reaction for DNA concatenation. We found that DNA is cleaved at a nucleotide containing 5-ethynyluracil in a methylamine aqueous solution to generate 5′-phosphorylated DNA fragment as a cleavage product. We demonstrated that the reaction can be applied to DNA concatenation of PCR-amplified DNA fragments. This novel non-enzymatic DNA cleavage reaction is a simple practical approach for DNA concatenation.