A Novel DNA Polymerase Family Found in Archaea

One of the most puzzling results from the complete genome sequence of the methanogenic archaeon Methanococcus jannaschii was that the organism may have only one DNA polymerase gene. This is because no other DNA polymerase-like open reading frames (ORFs) were found besides one ORF having the typical α-like DNA polymerase (family B). Recently, we identified the genes of DNA polymerase II (the second DNA polymerase) from the hyperthermophilic archaeon Pyrococcus furiosus, which has also at least one α-like DNA polymerase (T. Uemori, Y. Sato, I. Kato, H. Doi, and Y. Ishino, Genes Cells 2:499–512, 1997). The genes in M. jannaschii encoding the proteins that are homologous to the DNA polymerase II of P. furiosus have been located and cloned. The gene products of M. jannaschii expressed in Escherichia coli had both DNA polymerizing and 3′→5′ exonuclease activities. We propose here a novel DNA polymerase family which is entirely different from other hitherto-described DNA polymerases.