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Journal of Bacteriology, November 2005, p. 7607-7618, Vol. 187, No. 22
0021-9193/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.187.22.7607-7618.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Roles of the Escherichia coli RecA Protein and the Global SOS Response in Effecting DNA Polymerase Selection In Vivo

Robert W. Maul and Mark D. Sutton^*

Department of Biochemistry, School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Buffalo, New York 14214

Received 8 July 2005/ Accepted 25 August 2005

The Escherichia coli ß sliding clamp protein is proposed to play an important role in effecting switches between different DNA polymerases during replication, repair, and translesion DNA synthesis. We recently described how strains bearing the dnaN159 allele, which encodes a mutant form of the ß clamp (ß159), display a UV-sensitive phenotype that is suppressed by inactivation of DNA polymerase IV (M. D. Sutton, J. Bacteriol. 186:6738-6748, 2004). As part of an ongoing effort to understand mechanisms of DNA polymerase management in E. coli, we have further characterized effects of the dnaN159 allele on polymerase usage. Three of the five E.coli DNA polymerases (II, IV, and V) are regulated as part of the global SOS response. Our results indicate that elevated expression of the dinB-encoded polymerase IV is sufficient to result in conditional lethality of the dnaN159 strain. In contrast, chronically activated RecA protein, expressed from the recA730 allele, is lethal to the dnaN159 strain, and this lethality is suppressed by mutations that either mitigate RecA730 activity (i.e., recR), or impair the activities of DNA polymerase II or DNA polymerase V (i.e., polB or umuDC). Thus, we have identified distinct genetic requirements whereby each of the three different SOS-regulated DNA polymerases are able to confer lethality upon the dnaN159 strain, suggesting the presence of multiple mechanisms by which the actions of the cell's different DNA polymerases are managed in vivo.

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* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Biochemistry, 140 Farber Hall, School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, State University of New York at Buffalo, 3435 Main Street, Buffalo, NY 14214. Phone: (716) 829-3581. Fax: (716) 829-2661. E-mail: mdsutton{at}Buffalo.edu.

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Journal of Bacteriology, November 2005, p. 7607-7618, Vol. 187, No. 22
0021-9193/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.187.22.7607-7618.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Heltzel, J. M. H., Maul, R. W., Scouten Ponticelli, S. K., Sutton, M. D. (2009). A model for DNA polymerase switching involving a single cleft and the rim of the sliding clamp. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 106: 12664-12669 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• van der Veen, S., Hain, T., Wouters, J. A., Hossain, H., de Vos, W. M., Abee, T., Chakraborty, T., Wells-Bennik, M. H. J. (2007). The heat-shock response of Listeria monocytogenes comprises genes involved in heat shock, cell division, cell wall synthesis, and the SOS response. Microbiology 153: 3593-3607 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Maul, R. W., Sanders, L. H., Lim, J. B., Benitez, R., Sutton, M. D. (2007). Role of Escherichia coli DNA Polymerase I in Conferring Viability upon the dnaN159 Mutant Strain. J. Bacteriol. 189: 4688-4695 [Abstract] [Full Text]