Open AccessZ-DNA-forming sequences are spontaneous deletion hot spots.
Author(s) -
Anne-Marie Freund,
Marc Bichara,
Robert Fuchs
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.011
H-Index - 771
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.86.19.7465
Subject(s) - dna , plasmid , escherichia coli , base pair , biology , sequence (biology) , dna sequencing , microbiology and biotechnology , genetics , gene
Z-DNA-forming sequences are shown to elicit a biological response in Escherichia coli. Plasmids containing sequences capable of adopting the Z conformation (GC and CA/GT) are shown to be hot spots for spontaneous deletions. All the deletions involve an even number of base pairs. The distribution of the deletion events shows that the process ends when the Z-DNA-forming sequence has been reduced to a size no longer capable of adopting the Z conformation at natural superhelical density.