Skip to main content
PMC home page
The EMBO Journal logoLink to The EMBO Journal
. 1984 Nov;3(11):2569–2573. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1984.tb02175.x

3-Methyladenine residues in DNA induce the SOS function sfiA in Escherichia coli.

S Boiteux, O Huisman, J Laval
PMCID: PMC557731  PMID: 6239774

Abstract

The induction by methylating agents of the SOS function sfiA was measured by means of a sfiA::lac operon fusion in Escherichia coli mutants defective in alkylation repair. The sfiA operon was turned on at a 10-fold lower concentration of methylmethane sulfonate or dimethyl sulfate in tagA strains, lacking specific 3-methyladenine-DNA glycosylase, than in wild-type strains. In contrast, the induction of sfiA by u.v. light was not affected by a tagA mutation. We confirm that tagA strains specifically accumulate 3-methyladenine in their DNA. We conclude that the persistence of 3-methyladenine in E. coli DNA most likely induces the SOS functions. Results on in vitro DNA synthesis further suggest that this induction is due to an unscheduled arrest of DNA synthesis at this lesion.

Full text

PDF
2569

Selected References

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

  1. Bagg A., Kenyon C. J., Walker G. C. Inducibility of a gene product required for UV and chemical mutagenesis in Escherichia coli. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1981 Sep;78(9):5749–5753. doi: 10.1073/pnas.78.9.5749. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Berg D. E., Davies J., Allet B., Rochaix J. D. Transposition of R factor genes to bacteriophage lambda. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1975 Sep;72(9):3628–3632. doi: 10.1073/pnas.72.9.3628. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Boiteux S., Laval J. Coding properties of poly(deoxycytidylic acid) templates containing uracil or apyrimidinic sites: in vitro modulation of mutagenesis by deoxyribonucleic acid repair enzymes. Biochemistry. 1982 Dec 21;21(26):6746–6751. doi: 10.1021/bi00269a020. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Boiteux S., Laval J. Imidazole open ring 7-methylguanine: an inhibitor of DNA synthesis. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 1983 Jan 27;110(2):552–558. doi: 10.1016/0006-291x(83)91185-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Casaregola S., D'Ari R., Huisman O. Quantitative evaluation of recA gene expression in Escherichia coli. Mol Gen Genet. 1982;185(3):430–439. doi: 10.1007/BF00334135. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Devoret R. Inducible error-prone repair: one of the cellular responses to DNA damage. Biochimie. 1978;60(10):1135–1140. doi: 10.1016/s0300-9084(79)80347-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Evensen G., Seeberg E. Adaptation to alkylation resistance involves the induction of a DNA glycosylase. Nature. 1982 Apr 22;296(5859):773–775. doi: 10.1038/296773a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Huisman O., D'Ari R. An inducible DNA replication-cell division coupling mechanism in E. coli. Nature. 1981 Apr 30;290(5809):797–799. doi: 10.1038/290797a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Huisman O., D'Ari R. Effect of suppressors of SOS-mediated filamentation on sfiA operon expression in Escherichia coli. J Bacteriol. 1983 Jan;153(1):169–175. doi: 10.1128/jb.153.1.169-175.1983. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Huisman O., D'Ari R., Gottesman S. Cell-division control in Escherichia coli: specific induction of the SOS function SfiA protein is sufficient to block septation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1984 Jul;81(14):4490–4494. doi: 10.1073/pnas.81.14.4490. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Jeggo P. Isolation and characterization of Escherichia coli K-12 mutants unable to induce the adaptive response to simple alkylating agents. J Bacteriol. 1979 Sep;139(3):783–791. doi: 10.1128/jb.139.3.783-791.1979. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Karran P., Hjelmgren T., Lindahl T. Induction of a DNA glycosylase for N-methylated purines is part of the adaptive response to alkylating agents. Nature. 1982 Apr 22;296(5859):770–773. doi: 10.1038/296770a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Karran P., Lindahl T., Ofsteng I., Evensen G. B., Seeberg E. Escherichia coli mutants deficient in 3-methyladenine-DNA glycosylase. J Mol Biol. 1980 Jun 15;140(1):101–127. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(80)90358-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Kunkel T. A., Schaaper R. M., Loeb L. A. Depurination-induced infidelity of deoxyribonucleic acid synthesis with purified deoxyribonucleic acid replication proteins in vitro. Biochemistry. 1983 May 10;22(10):2378–2384. doi: 10.1021/bi00279a012. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Laval J., Pierre J., Laval F. Release of 7-methylguanine residues from alkylated DNA by extracts of Micrococcus luteus and Escherichia coli. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1981 Feb;78(2):852–855. doi: 10.1073/pnas.78.2.852. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Laval J. Two enzymes are required from strand incision in repair of alkylated DNA. Nature. 1977 Oct 27;269(5631):829–832. doi: 10.1038/269829a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Little J. W. Autodigestion of lexA and phage lambda repressors. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1984 Mar;81(5):1375–1379. doi: 10.1073/pnas.81.5.1375. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Little J. W., Mount D. W. The SOS regulatory system of Escherichia coli. Cell. 1982 May;29(1):11–22. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(82)90085-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. McCann J., Choi E., Yamasaki E., Ames B. N. Detection of carcinogens as mutagens in the Salmonella/microsome test: assay of 300 chemicals. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1975 Dec;72(12):5135–5139. doi: 10.1073/pnas.72.12.5135. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. McCarthy T. V., Karran P., Lindahl T. Inducible repair of O-alkylated DNA pyrimidines in Escherichia coli. EMBO J. 1984 Mar;3(3):545–550. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1984.tb01844.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Mizusawa S., Court D., Gottesman S. Transcription of the sulA gene and repression by LexA. J Mol Biol. 1983 Dec 15;171(3):337–343. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(83)90097-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Moreau P., Bailone A., Devoret R. Prophage lambda induction of Escherichia coli K12 envA uvrB: a highly sensitive test for potential carcinogens. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1976 Oct;73(10):3700–3704. doi: 10.1073/pnas.73.10.3700. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Pfohl-Leszkowicz A., Boiteux S., Laval J., Keith G., Dirheimer G. Enzymatic methylation of chemically alkylated DNA and poly(dG-dC) X poly(dG-dC) in B and Z forms. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 1983 Oct 31;116(2):682–688. doi: 10.1016/0006-291x(83)90579-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Quillardet P., Hofnung M. Induction by UV light of the SOS function sfiA in Escherichia coli strains deficient or proficient in excision repair. J Bacteriol. 1984 Jan;157(1):35–38. doi: 10.1128/jb.157.1.35-38.1984. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Quillardet P., Huisman O., D'Ari R., Hofnung M. SOS chromotest, a direct assay of induction of an SOS function in Escherichia coli K-12 to measure genotoxicity. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1982 Oct;79(19):5971–5975. doi: 10.1073/pnas.79.19.5971. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Riazuddin S., Lindahl T. Properties of 3-methyladenine-DNA glycosylase from Escherichia coli. Biochemistry. 1978 May 30;17(11):2110–2118. doi: 10.1021/bi00604a014. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Schendel P. F., Defais M., Jeggo P., Samson L., Cairns J. Pathways of mutagenesis and repair in Escherichia coli exposed to low levels of simple alkylating agents. J Bacteriol. 1978 Aug;135(2):466–475. doi: 10.1128/jb.135.2.466-475.1978. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Smith C. L., Siegfried E., Ruvolo P. P. Adaptive doses of MNNG efficiently induce a recA-trp gene fusion. DNA. 1983;2(4):291–299. doi: 10.1089/dna.1983.2.291. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Witkin E. M. Ultraviolet mutagenesis and inducible DNA repair in Escherichia coli. Bacteriol Rev. 1976 Dec;40(4):869–907. doi: 10.1128/br.40.4.869-907.1976. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Yamamoto Y., Katsuki M., Sekiguchi M., Otsuji N. Escherichia coli gene that controls sensitivity to alkylating agents. J Bacteriol. 1978 Jul;135(1):144–152. doi: 10.1128/jb.135.1.144-152.1978. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from The EMBO Journal are provided here courtesy of Nature Publishing Group

RESOURCES