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Journal of Bacteriology, January 2009, p. 506-513, Vol. 191, No. 2
0021-9193/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.01210-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Defects in the Error Prevention Oxidized Guanine System Potentiate Stationary-Phase Mutagenesis in Bacillus subtilis{triangledown}

Luz E. Vidales,1 Lluvia C. Cárdenas,1 Eduardo Robleto,2 Ronald E. Yasbin,2 and Mario Pedraza-Reyes1*

Department of Biology, University of Guanajuato, P.O. Box 187, Guanajuato, Gto. 36050 MEXICO,1 School of Life Sciences, University of Nevada—Las Vegas, 4505 Maryland Parkway, Box 454004, Las Vegas, Nevada 89154-40042

Received 28 August 2008/ Accepted 6 November 2008

Previous studies showed that a Bacillus subtilis strain deficient in mismatch repair (MMR; encoded by the mutSL operon) promoted the production of stationary-phase-induced mutations. However, overexpression of the mutSL operon did not completely suppress this process, suggesting that additional DNA repair mechanisms are involved in the generation of stationary-phase-associated mutants in this bacterium. In agreement with this hypothesis, the results presented in this work revealed that starved B. subtilis cells lacking a functional error prevention GO (8-oxo-G) system (composed of YtkD, MutM, and YfhQ) had a dramatic propensity to increase the number of stationary-phase-induced revertants. These results strongly suggest that the occurrence of mutations is exacerbated by reactive oxygen species in nondividing cells of B. subtilis having an inactive GO system. Interestingly, overexpression of the MMR system significantly diminished the accumulation of mutations in cells deficient in the GO repair system during stationary phase. These results suggest that the MMR system plays a general role in correcting base mispairing induced by oxidative stress during stationary phase. Thus, the absence or depression of both the MMR and GO systems contributes to the production of stationary-phase mutants in B. subtilis. In conclusion, our results support the idea that oxidative stress is a mechanism that generates genetic diversity in starved cells of B. subtilis, promoting stationary-phase-induced mutagenesis in this soil microorganism.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Biology, Building L, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Guanajuato, Noria Alta S/N, Guanajuato, 36050 Gto. MEXICO. Phone: (473) 73 2 00 06, ext. 8161. Fax: (473) 73 2 00 06, ext. 8153. E-mail: pedrama{at}quijote.ugto.mx

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 14 November 2008.

Journal of Bacteriology, January 2009, p. 506-513, Vol. 191, No. 2
0021-9193/09/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.01210-08
Copyright © 2009, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





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