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. 1990 Sep;126(1):17–24. doi: 10.1093/genetics/126.1.17

Context Effects in the Formation of Deletions in Escherichia Coli

T Kazic 1, D E Berg 1
PMCID: PMC1204121  PMID: 2227379

Abstract

We have examined the frequency with which identical deletions are formed in different chromosomal contexts. A panel of six mutant bla genes containing palindrome/direct repeat structures were moved from pBR322 to three locations: at λatt, at chromosomal lac, and at F'lac. Deletion of the palindromes and one of the direct repeats results in reversion to Amp(r). The frequency of deletion for all alleles declines beyond the reduction in copy number when they are moved from the multicopy plasmid environment to a single-copy chromosome. The magnitude of the declines varies in an allelespecific and location-specific manner. Our data support the hypothesis that context can influence the frequency of mutation independent of the immediate DNA sequence.

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Selected References

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