title: A strain of Yersinia pestis with a mutator phenotype from the Republic of Georgia.
abstract: We describe here a strain of Yersinia pestis, G1670A, which exhibits a baseline mutation rate elevated 250-fold over wild-type Y. pestis. The responsible mutation, a C to T substitution in the mutS gene, results in the transition of a highly conserved leucine at position 689 to arginine (mutS(L689R)). When the MutSL 689R protein of G1670A was expressed in a ΔmutS derivative of Y. pestis strain EV76, mutation rates observed were equivalent to those observed in G1670A, consistent with a causal association between the mutS mutation and the mutator phenotype. The observation of a mutator allele in Yersinia pestis has potential implications for the study of evolution of this and other especially dangerous pathogens.
authors.affiliation: Emerging Pathogens Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Chythanya
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rajanna
authors.forename: Gary
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ouellette
authors.forename: Mohammed
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rashid
authors.forename: Adam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zemla
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Karavis
authors.forename: Carol
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Tamara
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Revazishvili
authors.forename: Brady
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Redmond
authors.forename: Lauren
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: McNew
authors.forename: Lela
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bakanidze
authors.forename: Paata
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Imnadze
authors.forename: Bryan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Rivers
authors.forename: Evan W
authors.initials: EW
authors.lastname: Skowronski
authors.forename: Kevin P
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: O'Connell
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sulakvelidze
authors.forename: Henry S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Gibbons
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D001483:Base Sequence; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D015870:Gene Expression; D005816:Genetic Complementation Test; D016680:Genome, Bacterial; D005846:Georgia (Republic); D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D010641:Phenotype; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D015010:Yersinia pestis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins