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. 2022 Dec 1;13:1005862. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.1005862

FIGURE 4.

FIGURE 4

DNA integrity analysis in Thermus thermophilus mutants. Representative images of control and mutant strains analyzed by neutral comet assay and stained with GelRed®. The whole extent of the comet tail relative to the head provides qualitative information about the amount of DNA lesions (A) HB27. (B) ppol::kat. (C) addAB::kat. (D) ppol_cat. (E) ppol::lox72. (F) ppol_comp. In the HB27 cultures, the majority of the cells were intact showing little or no DNA migration (fluorescence limited to nucleoids). On the other hand, in the mutants DNA leaked out from the nucleoid indicating the presence of strand fragmentation. The different halos and migration patterns are indicative of the amount of DNA damage. Cells with extensive lesions had almost all DNA in the tail due to migration from the nucleoid.