DNA SEQUENCE ANALYSIS OF MUTAGENICITY AND SITE SPECIFICITY OF ETHYL METHANESULFONATE IN Uvr+ AND UvrB- STRAINS OF ESCHERICHIA COLI

EMS-induced mutations within a 180 base pair region of the lacI gene of E. coli were cloned and sequenced. In total, 105 and 79 EMS-induced mutations from a Uvr+ and a UvrB- strain, respectively, were sequenced. The specificity of EMS-induced mutagenesis was very similar in the two strians; G:C → A:T transitions accounted for all but three of the mutants. The overall frequency of induced mutation was fivefold higher in the UvrB- strain compared to the Uvr+ strain. This demonstrates, at the DNA sequence level, that the presumed pre-mutagenic lesion, O  6-ethylguanine, is subject to repair by the uvrABC excision repair system of E. coli. An analysis of mutation frequencies with respect to neighboring base sequence, in the two strains, shows that O  6-ethylguanine lesions adjacent to A:T base pairs present better targets for the excision repair machinery than those not adjacent to A:T base pairs.