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. 1986 Mar;165(3):1023–1025. doi: 10.1128/jb.165.3.1023-1025.1986

Inviability of dam recA and dam recB cells of Escherichia coli is correlated with their inability to repair DNA double-strand breaks produced by mismatch repair.

T C Wang, K C Smith
PMCID: PMC214532  PMID: 3512517

Abstract

The molecular basis for the inviability of dam-3 recA200(Ts) and dam-3 recB270(Ts) cells was studied. The dam-3 recA200(Ts) cells were inviable in yeast extract-nutrient broth or in minimal medium at 42 degrees C. Although the dam-3 recB270(Ts) cells were inviable in yeast extract-nutrient broth at 42 degrees C, they were viable at 42 degrees C in minimal medium, in which the high salt content suppresses the mutant phenotype caused by the recB270(Ts) mutation at 42 degrees C. Under the growth conditions rendering dam rec cells inviable, the cells accumulated double-strand breaks in their DNA. Introduction of a mutL or mutS mutation restored the viability of dam-3 recB270(Ts) cells grown in yeast extract-nutrient broth at 42 degrees C and eliminated the formation of DNA double-strand breaks in these cells. We conclude that the inability to repair DNA double-strand breaks produced by the mismatch repair process accounts for the inviability of the dam recA and dam recB cells.

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Selected References

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

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