title: Frequency and spectrum of mutations produced by a single cis-syn thymine-thymine cyclobutane dimer in a single-stranded vector.
abstract: We have constructed a single-stranded vector that contains a uniquely located cis-syn T-T cyclobutane dimer by ligating a synthetic oligomer containing this UV photoproduct into M13mp7 viral DNA linearized with EcoRI. In the absence of SOS induction, transfection of a uvrA6 mutant of Escherichia coli with this vector gave very few progeny plaques, and the data imply that a single dimer blocks replication in at least 99.5% of the molecules. In vitro photoreactivation completely abolished this inhibition. Transfection of cells irradiated with UV at 4 J.m-2 to induce the SOS response gave 27% of the number of plaques found with a dimer-free control. Nucleotide sequence analysis of 529 progeny phage showed that translesion synthesis was usually accurate: the normal sequence was found in 93% of them. Where mutations occurred, all were targeted single-nucleotide substitutions, with approximately 90% being targeted at the 3' nucleotide of the lesion: of a total of 26 mutations, 15 were 3' T----A, 8 were 3' T----C, and 3 were 5' T----C. No T----G mutations were found. In addition to these results with the normal construct, data were also obtained from vectors in which the M13mp7 cloning site, which forms a hairpin in single-stranded DNA, was present 4 nucleotides on the 3' side of the T-T dimer. These hairpin-containing vectors gave a very similar mutation frequency (8% versus 7%) but altered mutation spectrum: all 12 mutations detected were 3' T----A transversions, a difference from the previous set of data that is significant (P = 0.03).
authors.affiliation: Department of Biophysics, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, NY 14642.
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Banerjee
authors.forename: R B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Christensen
authors.forename: C W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Lawrence
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: LeClerc
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D003503:Cyclobutanes; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000528:radiation effects*; D004277:DNA, Single-Stranded / Q000528:radiation effects*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D009690:Nucleic Acid Conformation; D010777:Photochemistry; D014162:Transfection; D014466:Ultraviolet Rays
chemical_list: D003503:Cyclobutanes; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004277:DNA, Single-Stranded