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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America logoLink to Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
. 1974 Mar;71(3):675–679. doi: 10.1073/pnas.71.3.675

DNA Repair in Escherichia coli Mutants Deficient in DNA Polymerases I, II, and/or III

Robert C Tait 1,*, Andrew L Harris 1,, Douglas W Smith 1,
PMCID: PMC388075  PMID: 4595569

Abstract

E. coli mutants deficient in DNA polymerase I, in DNA polymerases I and II, or in DNA polymerase III, can efficiently and completely execute excision repair and post-replication repair of UV-damaged DNA at 43° when assayed by alkaline sucrose gradients. Repair by cells deficient in polymerase I and in polymerases I and II is inhibited by 1-β-D-arabinofuranosylcytosine at 43°, whereas that by cells deficient in polymerase III is insensitive to the inhibitor. When both DNA polymerases I and III are deficient, both excision repair and post-replication repair are greatly reduced at 43°, and the residual repair capability is inhibited by 1-β-D-arabinofuranosylcytosine. Very little dark repair is observed in cells deficient in DNA polymerases I, II, and III, and the DNA is extensively degraded. These results suggest that either DNA polymerase I or DNA polymerase III is required for complete and efficient repair, and that when both DNA polymerases I and III are deficient, DNA polymerase II mediates a limited, incomplete dark repair of UV-damaged DNA. DNA polymerases I and III thus appear to be important enzymes in both DNA replication and DNA dark repair.

Keywords: polA1, polB, dnaE mutants; UV irradiation; 1,β-D-arabinofuranosylcytosine; alkaline sucrose gradients

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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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