All known DNA and RNA polymerases catalyze the formation of phosphodiester bonds in a 5′ to 3′ direction, suggesting this property is a fundamental feature of maintaining and dispersing genetic information. The tRNAHis guanylyltransferase (Thg1) is a member of a unique enzyme family whose members catalyze an unprecedented reaction in biology: 3′-5′ addition of nucleotides to nucleic acid substrates. The 2.3-Å crystal structure of human THG1 (hTHG1) reported here shows that, despite the lack of sequence similarity, hTHG1 shares unexpected structural homology with canonical 5′-3′ DNA polymerases and adenylyl/guanylyl cyclases, two enzyme families known to use a two-metal-ion mechanism for catalysis. The ability of the same structural architecture to catalyze both 5′-3′ and 3′-5′ reactions raises important questions concerning selection of the 5′-3′ mechanism during the evolution of nucleotide polymerases.

...................................................................................... ii Acknowledgments ........................................................................... iv Vita ............................................................................................ v List of Figures ................................................................................ vii List of abbreviations ........................................................................ viii Chapter 1: Introduction. ...................................................................... 1 Chapter 2: Results ........................................................................... 7 Chapter 3: Discussion ....................................................................... 34 Chapter 4: Methods .......................................................................... 40 References .................................................................................... 45