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Journal of Bacteriology, October 2002, p. 5599-5608, Vol. 184, No. 20
0021-9193/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JB.184.20.5599-5608.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Induction of a DNA Nickase in the Presence of Its Target Site Stimulates Adaptive Mutation in Escherichia coli

Cesar Rodriguez, Joshua Tompkin, Jill Hazel, and Patricia L. Foster^*

Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 47405

Received 26 April 2002/ Accepted 18 July 2002

Adaptive mutation to Lac⁺ in Escherichia coli strain FC40 depends on recombination functions and is enhanced by the expression of conjugal functions. To test the hypothesis that the conjugal function that is important for adaptive mutation is the production of a single-strand nick at the conjugal origin, we supplied an exogenous nicking enzyme, the gene II protein (gIIp) of bacteriophage f1, and placed its target sequence near the lac allele. When both gIIp and its target site were present, adaptive mutation was stimulated three- to fourfold. Like normal adaptive mutations, gIIp-induced mutations were recA⁺ and ruvC⁺ dependent and were mainly single-base deletions in runs of iterated bases. In addition, gIIp with its target site could substitute for conjugal functions in adaptive mutation. These results support the hypothesis that nicking at the conjugal origin initiates the recombination that produces adaptive mutations in this strain of E. coli, and they suggest that nicking may be the only conjugal function required for adaptive mutation.

Present address: Programa de Genetica Molecular de Plasmidos Bacterianos, Centro de Investigacion sobre Fijacion de Nitrogeno, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico.

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