Abstract
Thymine deprivation can be achieved in bacteriophage T4 either by the use of the thymidylate synthetase inhibitor FUdR, or by an appropriate combination of genetic blocks; both methods produce marked mutagenesis. Extensive tests of the specificity of thymineless mutagenesis reveal that only A:T base pairs are affected, and that transitions and possibly transversions are produced. This system therefore constitutes the first example of an A:T-specific mutagen. Thymineless mutagenesis in bacteriophage T4 exhibits a marked dependence upon the functional state of the DNA polymerase gene, but is largely independent of the px-y misrepair system.
Full Text
The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (669.6 KB).
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- ADELBERG E. A., COUGHLIN C. A. Bacterial mutation induced by thymine starvation. Nature. 1956 Sep 8;178(4532):531–532. doi: 10.1038/178531a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Bernstein C., Bernstein H., Mufti S., Strom B. Stimulation of mutation in phage T 4 by lesions in gene 32 and by thymidine imbalance. Mutat Res. 1972 Oct;16(2):113–119. doi: 10.1016/0027-5107(72)90171-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Boyle J. M. Radiation-sensitive mutants of T4D. II. T4y: genetic characterization. Mutat Res. 1969 Nov-Dec;8(3):441–449. doi: 10.1016/0027-5107(69)90061-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Boyle J. M., Symonds N. Radiation-sensitive mutants of T4D. I. T4y: a new radiation-sensitive mutant; effect of the mutation on radiation survival, growth and recombination. Mutat Res. 1969 Nov-Dec;8(3):431–439. doi: 10.1016/0027-5107(69)90060-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Drake J. W., Allen E. F., Forsberg S. A., Preparata R. M., Greening E. O. Genetic control of mutation rates in bacteriophageT4. Nature. 1969 Mar 22;221(5186):1128–1132. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Drake J. W., Greening E. O. Suppression of chemical mutagenesis in bacteriophage T4 by genetically modified DNA polymerases. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1970 Jul;66(3):823–829. doi: 10.1073/pnas.66.3.823. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Drake J. W., McGuire J. Characteristics of mutations appearing spontaneously in extracellular particles of bacteriophage T4. Genetics. 1967 Mar;55(3):387–398. doi: 10.1093/genetics/55.3.387. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- HARM W. Mutants of phage T4 with increased sensitivity to ultraviolet. Virology. 1963 Jan;19:66–71. doi: 10.1016/0042-6822(63)90025-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Holmes A. J., Eisenstark A. The mutagenic effect of thymine-starvation on Salmonella typhimurium. Mutat Res. 1968 Jan-Feb;5(1):15–21. doi: 10.1016/0027-5107(68)90076-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- KANAZIR D. The apparent mutagenicity of thymine deficiency. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1958 Oct;30(1):20–23. doi: 10.1016/0006-3002(58)90235-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- LATHAM A. B., WEINBERG R. Apparent mutagenic effect of thymine deficiency for a thymine-requiring strain of Escherichia coli. J Bacteriol. 1956 Oct;72(4):570–572. doi: 10.1128/jb.72.4.570-572.1956. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Ripley L. S., Drake J. W. A genetic assay for transversion mutations in bacteriophage T4. Mol Gen Genet. 1972;118(1):1–10. doi: 10.1007/BF02428327. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- SIMON E. H., TESSMAN I. THYMIDINE-REQUIRING MUTANTS OF PHAGE T4. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1963 Sep;50:526–532. doi: 10.1073/pnas.50.3.526. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]