title: Roles of the RecJ and RecQ proteins in spontaneous formation of deletion mutations in the Escherichia coli K12 endogenous tonB gene.
abstract: The endogenous tonB gene of Escherichia coli was used as a target for spontaneous deletion mutations which were isolated from recJ(-) and recQ(-) cells. Large deletions, due to simultaneous mutations of the trp operon, were also isolated. The rates of tonB mutation were 2.77 x 10(-8), 4.13 x 10(-8) and 5.00 x 10(-8) for rec(+), recJ(-) and recQ(-) cells, respectively. We analyzed 94 and 99 tonB mutants from the recJ(-) and recQ(-) cells, respectively, by sequencing. We found that IS insertion dominated, followed by base substitutions, frameshifts and deletions in both recJ(-) and recQ(-) strains. We then analyzed 55 tonB-trp deletions, ranging in size from 5907 to 20,832 bp, from the recJ(-) strains and 47 tonB-trp deletions, ranging in size from 4,959 to 16,390 bp from the recQ(-) strains. About one-third of tonB-trp deletions from both the recJ(-) and the recQ(-) cells were found to have occurred between short sequence repeats at the deletion termini. About one-third of tonB-trp deletions from both mutants showed 2-4 bp repeats in the immediate vicinity of the endpoints, which appeared to indicate no clear association with deletion. The remaining one-third of tonB-trp deletions had no homology at the endpoint. These results were similar to those for the rec(+) cells. Hanada and colleagues demonstrated that structually similar rearrangements arising during lambda bio phage formation (illegitimate recombination) increased in the recQ(-) strain. To explain this discrepancy, we interpreted as distinctive the mechanism for rearrangement during transducing phage formation which is recQ-dependent and that for deletions formed in chromosomes which is recQ-independent.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomolecular Sciences, Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8577, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazumi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mashimo
authors.forename: Masakado
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kawata
authors.forename: Kazuo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
mesh_terms: D000251:Adenosine Triphosphatases / Q000378:metabolism*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D004265:DNA Helicases / Q000378:metabolism*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D005090:Exodeoxyribonucleases / Q000378:metabolism*; D016368:Frameshift Mutation; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D053484:RecQ Helicases; D017384:Sequence Deletion
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins; C057616:tonB protein, Bacteria; C489181:tonB protein, E coli; D005090:Exodeoxyribonucleases; C489467:RecJ protein, E coli; C070765:recJ protein, Bacteria; D000251:Adenosine Triphosphatases; C506724:RecQ protein, E coli; D004265:DNA Helicases; D053484:RecQ Helicases