Skip to main content
PMC home page
Genetics logoLink to Genetics
. 1988 Jan;118(1):31–39. doi: 10.1093/genetics/118.1.31

DNA Repair and the Evolution of Transformation in the Bacterium Bacillus Subtilis

R E Michod 1, M F Wojciechowski 1, M A Hoelzer 1
PMCID: PMC1203263  PMID: 8608929

Abstract

The purpose of the work reported here is to test the hypothesis that natural genetic transformation in the bacterium Bacillus subtilis has evolved as a DNA repair system. Specifically, tests were made to determine whether transformation functions to provide DNA template for the bacterial cell to use in recombinational repair. The survivorship and the homologous transformation rate as a function of dose of ultraviolet irradiation (UV) was studied in two experimental treatments, in which cells were either transformed before (DNA-UV), or after (UV-DNA), treatment with UV. The results show that there is a qualitative difference in the relationship between the survival of transformed cells (sexual cells) and total cells (primarily asexual cells) in the two treatments. As predicted by the repair hypothesis, in the UV-DNA treatment, transformed cells had greater average survivorship than total cells, while in the DNA-UV treatment this relationship was reversed. There was also a consistent and qualitative difference between the UV-DNA and DNA-UV treatments in the relationship between the homologous transformation rate (transformed cells/total cells) and UV dosage. As predicted by the repair hypothesis, the homologous transformation rate increases with UV dose in the UV-DNA experiments but decreases with UV dose in the DNA-UV treatments. However, the transformation rate for plasmid DNA does not increase in a UV-DNA treatment. These results support the DNA repair hypothesis for the evolution of transformation in particular, and sex generally.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (999.2 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Bernstein H., Byerly H. C., Hopf F. A., Michod R. E. Genetic damage, mutation, and the evolution of sex. Science. 1985 Sep 20;229(4719):1277–1281. doi: 10.1126/science.3898363. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bernstein H., Byerly H. C., Hopf F. A., Michod R. E. Origin of sex. J Theor Biol. 1984 Oct 5;110(3):323–351. doi: 10.1016/s0022-5193(84)80178-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Bernstein H., Hopf F. A., Michod R. E. The molecular basis of the evolution of sex. Adv Genet. 1987;24:323–370. doi: 10.1016/s0065-2660(08)60012-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Boylan R. J., Mendelson N. H., Brooks D., Young F. E. Regulation of the bacterial cell wall: analysis of a mutant of Bacillus subtilis defective in biosynthesis of teichoic acid. J Bacteriol. 1972 Apr;110(1):281–290. doi: 10.1128/jb.110.1.281-290.1972. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Harris W. J., Barr G. C. Structural features of DNA in competent Bacillus subtilis. Mol Gen Genet. 1971;113(4):316–330. doi: 10.1007/BF00272332. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Love P. E., Lyle M. J., Yasbin R. E. DNA-damage-inducible (din) loci are transcriptionally activated in competent Bacillus subtilis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1985 Sep;82(18):6201–6205. doi: 10.1073/pnas.82.18.6201. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Magaña-Schwencke N., Henriques J. A., Chanet R., Moustacchi E. The fate of 8-methoxypsoralen photoinduced crosslinks in nuclear and mitochondrial yeast DNA: comparison of wild-type and repair-deficient strains. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1982 Mar;79(6):1722–1726. doi: 10.1073/pnas.79.6.1722. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Mita I., Sadaie Y., Kada T. DNA repair in competent cells of Bacillus subtilis. J Bacteriol. 1983 Aug;155(2):933–936. doi: 10.1128/jb.155.2.933-936.1983. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. NESTER E. W., STOCKER B. A. BIOSYNTHETIC LATENCY IN EARLY STAGES OF DEOXYRIBONUCLEIC ACIDTRANSFORMATION IN BACILLUS SUBTILIS. J Bacteriol. 1963 Oct;86:785–796. doi: 10.1128/jb.86.4.785-796.1963. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Somma S., Polsinelli M. Quantitive autoradiographic study of competence and deoxyribonucleic acid incorporation in Bacillus subtilis. J Bacteriol. 1970 Mar;101(3):851–855. doi: 10.1128/jb.101.3.851-855.1970. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Spizizen J. TRANSFORMATION OF BIOCHEMICALLY DEFICIENT STRAINS OF BACILLUS SUBTILIS BY DEOXYRIBONUCLEATE. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1958 Oct 15;44(10):1072–1078. doi: 10.1073/pnas.44.10.1072. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Stewart G. J., Carlson C. A. The biology of natural transformation. Annu Rev Microbiol. 1986;40:211–235. doi: 10.1146/annurev.mi.40.100186.001235. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Sullivan M. A., Yasbin R. E., Young F. E. New shuttle vectors for Bacillus subtilis and Escherichia coli which allow rapid detection of inserted fragments. Gene. 1984 Jul-Aug;29(1-2):21–26. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(84)90161-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Vieira J., Messing J. The pUC plasmids, an M13mp7-derived system for insertion mutagenesis and sequencing with synthetic universal primers. Gene. 1982 Oct;19(3):259–268. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(82)90015-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Yasbin R. E., Fields P. I., Andersen B. J. Properties of Bacillus subtilis 168 derivatives freed of their natural prophages. Gene. 1980 Dec;12(1-2):155–159. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(80)90026-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Yasbin R. E., Wilson G. A., Young F. E. Transformation and transfection in lysogenic strains of Bacillus subtilis: evidence for selective induction of prophage in competent cells. J Bacteriol. 1975 Jan;121(1):296–304. doi: 10.1128/jb.121.1.296-304.1975. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Genetics are provided here courtesy of Oxford University Press

RESOURCES