Mutability and importance of a hypermutable cell subpopulation that produces stress-induced mutants in Escherichia coli.

ABSTRACT: In bacterial, yeast, and human cells, stress-induced mutation mechanisms are induced in growth-limiting environments and produce non-adaptive and adaptive mutations. These mechanisms may accelerate evolution specifically when cells are maladapted to their environments, i.e., when they are are stressed. One mechanism of stress-induced mutagenesis in Escherichia coli occurs by error-prone DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair. This mechanism was linked previously to a differentiated subpopulation of cells with a transiently elevated mutation rate, a hypermutable cell subpopulation (HMS). The HMS could be important, producing essentially all stress-induced mutants. Alternatively, the HMS was proposed to produce only a minority of stress-induced mutants, i.e., it was proposed to be peripheral.

SUBMITTER: Gonzalez C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2543114 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature