type III site-specific deoxyribonuclease complex
A heterodimeric enzyme complex composed of two subunits, Res and Mod, that functions as an endonuclease and cleaves DNA. Cleavage will only occur when there are two un-methylated copies of a specific recognition site in an inverse orientation on the DNA. Cleavage occurs at a specific distance away from one of the recognition sites. The Mod subunit can act alone as a methyltansferase. DNA restriction systems such as this are used by bacteria to defend against phage and other foreign DNA that may enter a cell. [ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12654995 ]
Term info
type III site-specific deoxyribonuclease complex
- type III restriction enzyme complex
cellular_component
GO:0019813