Complementary action of recombination and excision in the repair of ultraviolet irradiation damage to DNA

Unauthorized horizontal spread in the laboratory environment: the tactics of Lula, a temperate lambdoid bacteriophage of Escherichia coli

We investigated the characteristics of a lambdoid prophage, nicknamed Lula, contaminating E. coli strains from several sources, that allowed it to spread horizontally in the laboratory environment. We found that new Lula infections are inconspicuous; at the same time, Lula lysogens carry unusually high titers of the phage in their cultures, making them extremely infectious. In addition, Lula prophage interferes with P1 phage development and induces its own lytic development in response to P1 infection, turning P1 transduction into an efficient vehicle of Lula spread. Thus, using Lula prophage as a model, we reveal the following principles of survival and reproduction in the laboratory environment: 1) stealth (via laboratory material commensality), 2) stability (via resistance to specific protocols), 3) infectivity (via covert yet aggressive productivity and laboratory protocol hitchhiking). Lula, which turned out to be identical to bacteriophage phi80, also provides an insight into a surprising persistence of T1-like contamination in BAC libraries.

T-oligos augment UV-induced protective responses in human skin

We have shown that DNA oligonucleotides substantially homologous to the telomere 3-prime overhang sequence (T-oligos) increase DNA repair capacity (DRC) in cultured human cells and decrease UV-induced mutation rate and photocarcinogenesis in mouse skin. To investigate the protective effects of T-oligos in intact human skin, paired skin explants obtained from adult donors were treated with T-oligos or diluent alone for 24 h, then UVB- or sham-irradiated, and processed after 6, 24, 48, 72, and 96 h for histological analysis. After UV irradiation apoptotic epidermal cells were comparable in diluent- and T-oligo-treated skin. Proliferating (Ki67+) cells were sparse in sham-irradiated skin and for 24 h after UV in both diluent- and T-oligo-treated specimens. However, compared to diluent controls, at 48 and 72 h T-oligos significantly inhibited UV-induced rebound hyperproliferation. Maximum and comparable cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (CPDs) were detected immediately after UV irradiation in diluent- and T-oligo-treated skin, but CPDs were strikingly reduced in T-oligo- vs. diluent-treated skin at 24, 48, and 72 h. Total and activated p53 protein was increased in T-oligo- vs. diluent-pretreated skin at the time of irradiation, and up to 3-fold increases persisted for 24 h post-UV. Over 5 days, UV irradiation and T-oligo comparably increased expression of melanogenic proteins and each increased epidermal melanin content 3- to 5-fold, with distinct nuclear capping in many keratinocytes. In combination, these findings predict that T-oligo treatment will increase melanogenesis, prolong epidermal arrest, and increase DNA repair rate after UV irradiation, thus decreasing the severity of acute and chronic photodamage in human skin. Moreover, the data document an inducible SOS-like response consisting of increased melanogenesis and increased DNA repair capacity in human skin following UV-induced damage that is also produced by T-oligos in the absence of initial damage.

The effects of three rad genes on UV induced mutation rates in haploid and diploid Saccharomyces cells

Effects of the rad 2-20, rad 9-4, r1s, and the corresponding wild type RAD alleles in haploid and homozygous diploid Saccharomyces strains on UV induced mutation rates from adenine, lysine and histidine dependence to independence are reported. The UV induced mutation rates were similar for the RAD, r1s, and rad 9-4 haploids, whereas the rad 2-20 mutation causes a marked increase in the UV induced mutation rates. The diploid rad 2-20 strain also exhibits a marked increase in the UV induced mutation rates, whereas the rad 9-4 diploid has reduced mutation rates when compared to the wildtype. The UV induced mutation rates of haploid and diploid RAD strains are almost identical. For the rad 2-20 and rad 9-4 diploids, however, these rates are smaller than in the corresponding haploid strains. Differential effects of the rad genes on the ratio of locus to suppressor mutations were found. The implications of these findings on possible repair processes in yeasts are discussed.

The interdependence of skin aging, skin cancer, and DNA repair capacity: a novel perspective with therapeutic implications

The human body is constantly exposed to exogenous and endogenous insults that threaten its genomic integrity and that lead to changes at the molecular, biochemical, and cellular levels. As a major interface between the environment and the internal milieu, our skin is especially subject to such events. Common insults include but are not limited to infectious agents, environmental pollutions and toxins, carcinogens, and ultraviolet (UV) irradiation. It is estimated that there are thousands of DNA alterations in each cell daily. Therefore, if not efficiently repaired, our genome would rapidly be destroyed. This review focuses predominantly on UV-induced DNA damage in human skin, protective molecular responses to UV damage, and the consequences of these opposing forces for aging and photocarcinogenesis.

Recombinational repair of DNA damage in Escherichia coli and bacteriophage lambda

Although homologous recombination and DNA repair phenomena in bacteria were initially extensively studied without regard to any relationship between the two, it is now appreciated that DNA repair and homologous recombination are related through DNA replication. In Escherichia coli, two-strand DNA damage, generated mostly during replication on a template DNA containing one-strand damage, is repaired by recombination with a homologous intact duplex, usually the sister chromosome. The two major types of two-strand DNA lesions are channeled into two distinct pathways of recombinational repair: daughter-strand gaps are closed by the RecF pathway, while disintegrated replication forks are reestablished by the RecBCD pathway. The phage lambda recombination system is simpler in that its major reaction is to link two double-stranded DNA ends by using overlapping homologous sequences. The remarkable progress in understanding the mechanisms of recombinational repair in E. coli over the last decade is due to the in vitro characterization of the activities of individual recombination proteins. Putting our knowledge about recombinational repair in the broader context of DNA replication will guide future experimentation.

Photochemistry of DNA and related biomolecules: quantum yields and consequences of photoionization

The reactions of nucleic acids and constituents, which can be induced by laser UV irradiation, are described. Emphasis is placed on the quantum yields of various stable photoproducts of DNA and model compounds upon irradiation at 193, 248, 254 or 266 nm. In particular, those quantum yields and processes are discussed which involve photoionization as the initial step and occur in aqueous solution under well defined conditions, e.g. type of atmosphere. The efficiencies of some photoproducts, with respect to photoionization using irradiation at 193 or 248 nm, are presented. Radical cations of nucleobases are important sources of damage of biological substrates since they can cause lesions other than dimers and adducts, e.g. strand breakage, abasic sites, crosslinks or inactivation of plasmid and chromosomal DNA. While competing photoreactions, such as hydration, dimerization or adduct formation, diminish the selectivity of the photoionization method, a combination with model studies on pyrimidine- and purine-containing constituents of DNA has brought about an enhanced insight into the reaction mechanisms. The knowledge concerning the lethal events in plasmid and cellular DNA has been greatly improved by correlation with the chemical effects obtained by gamma-radiolysis, vacuum-UV (< 190 nm) and low-intensity irradiation at 254 nm.

Photolesions and biological inactivation of plasmid DNA on 254 nm irradiation and comparison with 193 nm laser irradiation

Plasmid pTZ18R and calf thymus DNA in aerated neutral aqueous solution were irradiated by continuous 254 nm light. The quantum yields are phi ssb = 4.0 x 10(-5) and phi dsb = 1.4 x 10(-6) for single- and double-strand break formation, respectively, phi br = 2.3 x 10(-5) for base release, phi dn = 2.1 x 10(-3) for destruction of nucleotides, and phi icl approximately phi lds approximately 1 x 10(-6) for interstrand cross-links and locally denatured sites, respectively. The presence of Tris-HCl/ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (10:1, pH 7.5) buffer strongly reduces phi ssb. The corresponding phi values, obtained on employing pulsed 193 nm laser irradiation, are much larger than those using lambda irr = 254 nm. This is ascribed to a contribution of chemical reactions induced by photoionization, which is absent for 254 nm irradiation. The quantum yields of inactivation of plasmid DNA (lambda irr = 254 nm) were measured by transformation of the Escherichia coli strains AB1157 (wild type), phi ina (1157) = 1.6 x 10(-4), AB1886 (uvr-), phi ina (1886) = 4.2 x 10(-4), AB2463 (rec-), phi ina (2463) = 4.1 x 10(-4) and AB2480 (uvr- rec-), phi ina (2480) = 3.1 x 10(-3). The quantum yields of inactivation of plasmid DNA are compared with those of the four E. coli strains (denoted as chromosomal DNA inactivation) obtained from the literature. The results for E. coli strain AB2480 show that the chromosomal DNA and the plasmid DNA are both inactivated by a single pyrimidine photodimer per genome.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Two-quantum UV photochemistry of nucleic acids: comparison with conventional low-intensity UV photochemistry and radiation chemistry

The action of high-intensity laser u.v. radiation on nucleic acid molecules and their constituents in vitro and in vivo is compared with the results of low-intensity u.v. photolysis and gamma-radiolysis.

Effect of photoreactivation on mutagenesis of lambda phage by ultraviolet light

There is disagreement in the literature as to whether the major mutagenic photoproduct induced in DNA by ultraviolet light is the cyclobutane dipyrimidine dimer, the most common product, or the [6-4] photoproduct, the next most frequent. In the experiments reported here, cyclobutane dimers were removed from irradiated lambda phage DNA by enzymatic photoreactivation, a process thought to affect no other photoproduct. Photoreactivation of lambda phage in host cells and of lambda DNA in solution reduced clear plaque mutants per plaque-forming unit by two-thirds, in host cells with a constant and near-maximal expression of the SOS functions required for mutagenesis. This result is interpreted to mean that removal of cyclobutane dimers in or near the mutated gene reduces mutation induced by ultraviolet light by two-thirds; therefore, cyclobutane dimers in the phage DNA are responsible for most observed mutations. DNA sequences of mutations in photoreactivated phage showed a smaller fraction of G.C to A.T transitions and a larger fraction of A.T to G.C transitions, compared to phage that were not photoreactivated. This suggests that cyclobutane dimers at TC and CC sites are particularly mutagenic.

Overproduction of single-stranded-DNA-binding protein specifically inhibits recombination of UV-irradiated bacteriophage DNA in Escherichia coli

Overproduction of single-stranded DNA (ssDNA)-binding protein (SSB) in uvr Escherichia coli mutants results in a wide range of altered phenotypes. (i) Cell survival after UV irradiation is decreased; (ii) expression of the recA-lexA regulon is slightly reduced after UV irradiation, whereas it is increased without irradiation; and (iii) recombination of UV-damaged lambda DNA is inhibited, whereas recombination of nonirradiated DNA is unaffected. These results are consistent with the idea that in UV-damaged bacteria, SSB is first required to allow the formation of short complexes of RecA protein and ssDNA that mediate cleavage of the LexA protein. However, in a second stage, SSB should be displaced from ssDNA to permit the production of longer RecA-ssDNA nucleoprotein filaments that are required for strand pairing and, hence, recombinational repair. Since bacteria overproducing SSB appear identical in physiological respects to recF mutant bacteria, it is suggested that the RecF protein (alone or with other proteins of the RecF pathway) may help RecA protein to release SSB from ssDNA.

Effects of overproduction of single-stranded DNA-binding protein on RecA protein-dependent processes in Escherichia coli

Overproduction of single-stranded DNA-binding protein (SSB) in Escherichia coli led to a decrease in the basal level of repressor LexA. Expression of the LexA-controlled genes was increased differentially, depending on the affinity of the LexA repressor for each promoter: expression of the recA and sfiA genes was increased 5-fold and 1.5-fold, respectively. Despite only a slight effect on expression of sfiA, which codes for an inhibitor of cell division, bacteria overproducing SSB produced elongated cells. In fact, the effect on cell shape appeared to be essentially independent of the expression of the sfiA and recA genes. Bacteria overproducing SSB were therefore phenotypically similar to bacteria partially starved of thymine, in which filamentation results from both sfiA-dependent and sfiA-recA-independent pathways. These data indicate that excess SSB acts primarily by perturbing DNA replication, thereby favoring gratuitous activation of RecA protein to promote cleavage of LexA protein. When bacteria overproducing SSB were exposed to a DNA-damaging agent such as ultraviolet light or mitomycin C, the recA and sfiA genes were fully induced. Induction of the sfiA gene occurred, however, at higher doses in bacteria overproducing SSB protein than in bacteria with normal levels of SSB. Whereas the efficiency of excision repair was apparently increased by excess SSB, the efficiency of post-replication recombinational repair was reduced as judged by a decrease in the recombination proficiency between a prophage and ultraviolet-irradiated heteroimmune infecting phage. Following induction of ssb+ bacteria with mitomycin C, the cellular content of SSB was slightly increased. These results provide evidence that SSB modulates RecA protein-dependent activities in vivo. It is proposed that SSB favors the formation of short complexes of RecA protein and single-stranded DNA that mediate cleavage of the LexA and lambda repressors, while it delays the formation of long nucleoprotein filaments, thereby slowing down RecA-promoted recombinational events in uninduced as well as in induced bacteria.

Pyrimidine dimers are not the principal pre-mutagenic lesions induced in lambda phage DNA by ultraviolet light

Experiments were performed to examine the role of cyclobutyl pyrimidine dimers in the process of mutagenesis by ultraviolet (u.v.) light. Lambda phage DNA was irradiated with u.v. and then incubated with an Escherichia coli photoreactivating enzyme, which monomerizes cyclobutyl pyrimidine dimers upon exposure to visible light. The photoreactivated DNA was packaged into lambda phage particles, which were used to infect E. coli uvr- host cells that had been induced for SOS functions by ultraviolet irradiation. Photoreactivation removed most toxic lesions from irradiated phage, but did not change the frequency of induction of mutations to the clear-plaque phenotype. This implies that cyclobutyl pyrimidine dimers can be lethal, but usually do not serve as sites of mutations in the phage. The DNA sequences of mutants derived from photoreactivated DNA showed that almost two-thirds (16/28) were transitions, the same fraction found for u.v. mutagenesis without photoreactivation. These results show that in this system, the lesion inducing transitions (the major type of u.v.-induced mutation) is not the cyclobutyl pyrimidine dimer; a strong candidate for a mutagenic lesion is the Pyr(6-4)Pyo photoproduct. On the other hand, photoreactivation of SOS-induced host cells before infection with u.v.-irradiated phage reduced mutagenesis substantially. In this case, photoreversal of cyclobutyl dimers serves to reduce expression of the SOS functions that are required in the process of targeted u.v. mutagenesis.

Biological consequences of infection of Escherichia coli B by alkylated T7 bacteriophage

Alkylation of T7 bacteriophage considerably delayed phage development and reduced the phage's killing action on host cells. Only a small fraction of infected cells produced phage. For these phages, the latent period was markedly prolonged but the burst was equivalent to or only slightly lower than that of untreated phage. In the progeny of alkylated phage, there was an increase in the fraction of defective particles as well as a change in their morphology. These data show that infection with alkylated T7 bacteriophage is to a large degree abortive; hence, biological consequences of this infection are very different from those characteristic of a normal virus infection.

The role of the HCR system in the repair of lethal lesions of Bacillus subtilis phages and their transfecting DNA damaged by radiation and alkylating agents

The role of the HCR system in the repair of prelethal lesions induced by UV-light, gamma-rays and alkylating agents was studied in the Bacillus subtilis SPP1 phage, its thermosensitive mutants (N3, N73 and ts1) and corresponding infectious DNA. The survival of phages and their transfecting DNA after treatment with UV light is substantially higher in hcr+ cells than in hcr cells, the differences being more striking in intact phages than in their transfecting DNA's. Repair inhibitors reduce the survival in hcr+ cells: caffeine lowers the survival of UV-irradiated phage SPP1 in exponentially growing hcr+ cells but has no effect on its survival in competent hcr+ cells; acriflavin and ethidium bromide decrease the survival of UV-irradiated SPP1 phage in both exponentially growing and competent hcr+ cells to the level of survival observed in hcr cells; moreover, ethidium bromide lowers the number of infective centres in hcr+ cells of UV-irradiated DNA of the SPP1 phage. Repair inhibitors do not lower the survival of UV-irradiated phages or their DNA in hcr cells. The repair mechanism under study repairs also lesions induced by polyfunctional alkylating agents in transfecting DNA's of B. subtilis phages but is not functional with lesions induced by these agents in free phages and lesions caused in phages and their DNA by ethyl methanesulphonate or gamma-rays.

The effect of caffeine on repair in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii. II. Interaction of repair systems

Survival following UV-irradiation of the two repair-deficient strains of Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, UVSE5 and UVSE6, was not affected by caffeine. Since caffeine causes increased survival in strains of this organism having normal recombination, these two mutant strains are considered to be recombination-deficient. The double-mutant strains UVSE1--UVSE4, UVSE1--UVSE5, UVSE1--UVSE6, UVSE4--UVSE5, UVSE4--UVSE6 and UVSE5--UVSE6 were isolated. These strains were exposed to UV-irradiation and in all but UVSE4--UVSE5, survival of the double-mutant strain was much lower than for any single-mutant strain. These results indicate that the altered gene products in UVSE1, UVSE5 and UVSE6 mutant strains are associated with different recombination-repair mechanisms. All double-mutant strains were treated with caffeine following UV-irradiation. In all double-mutant strains containing a mutant USVE4 gene product, recombination repair was increased by caffeine. On the basis of the data obtained, a scheme is proposed for the involvement of multiple repair systems in repair following UV-irradiation in C. reinhardtii.

Recombination in bacteriophage P2: recA dependent enhancement by ultraviolet irradiation and by transfection with mixed DNA dimers

Bacteriophage P2 is known for its exceptionally low rate of spontaneous (non-integrative) recombination, which however may be stimulated by ultraviolet irradiation of the phage. We show here that ligated dimers, made in vitro from mixtures of DNAs of two P2 mutants, upon transfection of lysozyme-spheroplasts give origin to recombinants at high frequency. While spontaneous P2 recombination occurs independently of the main recombination pathway of the bacteria, P2 recombinant formation following either ultraviolet irradiation or transfection with DNA dimers requires at least some element of such a pathway, since it is absent or greatly reduced in recA- bacteria or spheroplasts. It would seen that, in the course of its lytic development, P2 deploys a mechanism that inhibits the main recombination pathway of the host cell, or assumes DNA configurations refractory to it.

Dependence of the nucleoside effect on linear energy transfer

L929 cells were irradiated by cyclotron-produced neutrons and by 14.8 MeV monoenergetic neutrons. For comparison cells were also irradiated by 60Co gamma rays. Following irradiation cells were treated by an equimolar solution of deoxyribonucleosides, and the effect on cell survival measured. Results show that nucleoside treatment was efficient after low-LET irradiation: gamma ray survival curves were altered by deoxyribonucleosides in terms of significantly increased extrapolation numbers only, but without Do change. Cells irradiated by neutrons from either of the two sources did not respond to nucleoside treatment, and consequently their survival curves remained unaltered. These results show that the nucleoside effect does occur after low-LET irradiation, but apparently not following high-LET irradiation. Since deoxyribonucleosides as well as other cell breakdown products are released in irradiated and necrotic tumours due to massive cell destruction, such a nucleoside effect could possibly enhance the cell survival and thus effect the result of radiotherapy. Absence of the nucleoside effect in case of high-LET irradiation may therefore be an additional potential gain from neutrons in radiotherapy.

Characterization of lexB mutations in Escherichia coli K-12

Two mutations have been located at the recA locus and phenotypically characterized along with a third one, previously called rec-34. The three mutants behaved similarly to lexA mutants. They were sensitive to ultraviolet (UV) light and X rays, and lambdaFec- phages were able to plate on them. The three mutations were called lexB because they could be distinguished from recA mutations by the last property. lexB mutants were less sensitive to UV and X irradiations than were recA mutants and were, to various degrees, recombination proficient. UV light failed to induce prophage lambda in all three lexB lysogens. In contrast, thymine starvation induced lexB31 and lexB34 lysogens. In lexB34 mutants, but not in lexB30 and lexB31 mutants, UV reactivation occurred at a low level. In Escherichia coli K-12, the recA gene has basic functions in the repair of deoxyribonucleic acid lesions, deoxyribonucleic acid recombination, and prophage induction. The three lexB mutations alter unequally and independently the three functions. This suggests that the recA and lexB mutations affect the same gene.

Genetic exchanges caused by ultraviolet photoproducts in phage lambda DNA molecules: the role of DNA replication

Genetic recombination induced by structural damage in DNA molecules was investigated in E. coli K12 (lambda) lysogens infected with genetically marked phage lambda. Photoproducts were induced in the phage DNA before infection by exposing them either to 313 nm light in the presence of acetophenone or to 254 nm light. To test the role of the replication of the damaged phage DNA on the frequency of the induced recombination, both heteroimmune and homimmune crosses were performed. First, samples of a heteroimmune phage lambda imm434 P80 exposed to these treatments were allowed to infect cells lysogenic for prophage lambda cI857 P3. Phage DNA replication and maturation took place, and the resulting progeny phages were assayed for the frequency of P+ recombinants. Recombination was less frequent in infected cells exposed to visible light and in wild type cells able to perform excision repair than in excision-defective lysogens. Therefore, much of the induced recombination can be attributed to the pyrimidine dimers in the phage DNA, the only photoproducts known to be dissociated by photoreactivating enzyme. Second, in homoimmune crosses, samples of similarly treated homoimmune lambda P3 phages were allowed to infect lysogens carrying lambda cI857 P80. Replication of the phage DNA containing ultraviolet photoproducts was repressed by lambda immunity, and was further blocked by the lack of the P gene product needed for replication. The lysogens were purified and scored for both colony forming ability and for P+ recombinant prophages. The 254 nm photoproducts increased the frequency of recombination in these homimmune crosses, even though phage DNA replication was blocked. Irradiation with 313 nm light and acetophenone M, which produces dimers and unknown photoproducts, was not as effective per dimer as the 254 nm light. It is concluded from these results that certain unidentified 254 nm photoproducts can cause recombination even in the absence of DNA replication. They are not pyrimidine dimers, as they are not susceptible to excision repair or photoreactivation. In contrast, pyrimidine dimers appear to cause recombination only when the DNA containing them undergoes replication.

Repair of ultraviolet light-induced damage in Micrococcus radiophilus, an extremely resistant microorganism

Repair of ultraviolet radiation damage was examined in an extremely radioresistant organism, Micrococcus radiophilus. Measurement of the number of thymine-containing dimers formed as a function of ultraviolet dose suggests that the ability of this organism to withstand high doses of ultraviolet radiation (20,000 ergs/mm2) is not related to protective screening by pigments. M. radiophilus carries out a rapid excision of thymine dimers at doses of ultraviolet light up to 10,000 ergs/mm2. Synthesis of deoxyribonucleic acid is reduced after irradiation, but after removal of photodamage the rate approaches that in unirradiated cells. A comparison is drawn with Micrococcus luteus and M. radiodurans. We conclude that the extremely high resistance to ultraviolet irradiation in M. radiophilus is at least partly due to the presence of an efficient excision repair system.

Role of post-replication and excision repair mechanism in the induction of Trp+ revertants of UV-irradiated Escherichia coli

Both the post-replication and the excision repair mechanism participate in the induction of Trp+ revertants in Escherichia coli B/r Hcr+ thy trp after a UV-irradiation. At low radiation doses (surviving cell fraction greater than 10(-1) most Trp+ reversions are due to post-replication repair mechanism while at high doses (surviving cell fraction less than 10(-1)) the Trp+ reversions arise probably as the result of an inaccurate excision repair. The absolute accuracy of repair processes decreases with increasing radiation dose.

Radiation sensitivity of a mutant of Escherichia coli K-12 associated with DNA replication: evidence for a new repair function

The isolation and properties of a new radiation sensitive mutant of Escherichia coli K-12 are described which shows a correlation between radiation sensitivity and replication of irradiated DNA. The mutation, called rer, is located between arg B and pur D loci. The mutant, when grown in tryptone broth after irradiation, is sensitive to UV and lambda-rays and incorporates little or no 3H-thymidine but in minimal glucose-salts medium both the radiation sensitivity and incorporation of 3H-thymidine remain identical to that of the parent strain. Studies with a temperature sensitive double mutant rer dnaC show that 1 hr incubation of irradiated cells at 42 degrees C before their transfer to 30 degrees C results in higher survival as compared to their incubation at 30 degrees C only. It is suggested that rer controls the replication of irradiated DNA and thus regulates the coordination between replication and repair of DNA.

Genetic activity spectra of some antischistosomal compounds, with particular emphasis on thioxanthenones and benzothiopyranoindazoles

In this review we note that hycanthone (Etrenol) is mutagenic for bacteriophage, bacteria, yeast, Neurospora, Drosophila, and for mammalian tissue culture cells, and we point out other genetic activities of this thioxanthenone and of related compounds. One alarming genetic activity is the ability of hycanthone to cause transformation of tissue culture cells in vitro in a test designed to detect carcinogens, results that parallel the direct demonstration of carcinogenic activity of hycanthone in the mouse in vivo. These and other results are compatible with the somatic mutation theory of cancer induction. Factors likely to affect the quantitative genetic activity of hycanthone and its congeners are summarized. Attempts are made to weave the more critical experimental evidence into a molecular model that accounts for the genetic activities of this series of compounds. We conclude that hycanthone is a directly acting mutagen that intercalates into DNA and preferentially alkylates deoxyguanosine residues via formation of a strongly electrophilic molecular species, the carbonium ion. Finally, we show that genetic activity can be dissociated from schistosomicidal activity by appropriate modifications in the thioxanthenone molecule. Preliminary experiments on a newly synthesized piperazinyl N-oxide derivative demonstrate no detectable mutagenic activity; yet considerable schistosomicidal activity is retained.

The kinetics of derepression of prophage lambda following ultraviolet irradiation of lysogenic cells

Double lysogens for prophages lambda cI+ and lambda cI ind-ts-857 are induced only by the combined effects of ultraviolet (UV) irradiation and high temperature, not by either treatment alone (Sussman and Jacob, 1962). We have followed the kinetics of inactivation of the cI+ repressor brought about by irradiation in asynchronously and synchronously growing cultures of B/r (lambda cI ind- ts-857). Assays of the yield of phage released as a result of temporary thermal inactivation of the UV-resistant ind- ts-857 repressor at intervals after the irradiation accurately reflect the time course of UV-induced inactivation of the cI+ repressor. The results show that UV-induced derepression takes place in all cells of the population approximately 20 min after the irradiation whether the cells were growing asynchronously or synchronously. Hence UV induction of prophage lambda is not triggered at a particular stage in the cell cycle.

U.V. induced enhancement of recombination among lambda bacteriophages: relation with replication of irradiated DNA

Experimental results are reported showing the dependence of the U.V. induced enhancement of recombinants on the presence of the functional O gene product. This fact is tentatively interpreted as a replication dependence of the U.V. induced recombination.

SOS repair hypothesis: phenomenology of an inducible DNA repair which is accompanied by mutagenesis

A hypothesis was proposed several years ago that Escherichia coli posses an inducible DNA repair system ("SOS repair") which is also responsible for induced mutagenesis. Some characteristics of the SOS repair are (1) it is induced or activated following damage to DNA, (2) it requires do novo protein synthesis, (3) It requires several genetic functions of which the best-studied are recA+ and lex+ of E. coli, and (4) the physiological and genetic requirements for the expression of SOS repair are suspiciously similar to those necessary for the prophage induction. The SOS repair hypothesis has already served as the working hypothesis for many experiments, some of which are briefly reviewed. Also, some speculations are presented to stimulate further discussions and experimental tests.

Recovery of phage lambda from ultraviolet damage

Recovery of phage lambda from ultraviolet damage can occur, in the dark, through three types of repair processes as defined by microbiological tests: (1) host-cell reactivation, (2) prophage reactivation, and (3) UV reactivation. This paper reviews the properties of the three repair processes, analyzes their dependence on the functioning of bacterial and phase genes, and discusses their relationship. Progress in the understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying the three repair processes has been relatively slow, particularly for UV reactivation. It has been shown that host-cell reactivation is due to pyrimidine dimer excision and that prophage reactivation is due to genetic recombination (prereplicative). We provide evidence showing that neither of these mechanisms accounts for UV reactivation of phage lambda. Furthermore, UV reactivation differs from the other repair processes in that it is inducible and error-prone. Whether UV-damaged bacterial DNA is subject to a similar repair process is still an open question.

Interaction of bacterial and lambda phage recombination systems in the x-ray sensitivity of Escherichia coli K-12

E. coli cells lysogenic for the thermoinducible prophage lambdacI857 can be transiently induced by a brief heat treatment. Although this treatment does not kill the cells, some lambda products normally formed during vegetative phage development are made that can alter the response of host cells to x-irradiation by causing an increase in radioresistance. This increased resistance is particularly striking in the recombination-deficient recB-strain, which is normally much more radiosensitive than its recB(+) parent. After pulse-heating at 42 degrees , the survival curve of E. coli recB(-) lysogenized with lambdacI857 does not differ from that of the wild-type strain. Since lambda red mutants do not increase the radioresistance of recB(-) strains, both lambda red gene products, lambda exonuclease and beta-protein, are required to compensate for the missing recB product. Furthermore, phage-induced radioresistance also occurs in recB(+) lysogens even when they carry lambda red(-), but not when the lambda prophage is gam(-). Thus, in wild-type cells, phage-induced radioresistance requires some interaction between the bacterial recB gene product (exonuclease V) and the phage lambda-protein.

Effect of thymine starvation on deoxyribonucleic acid repair systems of Escherichia coli K-12

Thymine starvation of Escherichia coli K-12 results in greatly increased sensitivity to ultraviolet light (UV). Our studies, using isogenic strains carrying rec and uvr mutations, have shown the following. (i) Common to all strains tested is a change from multihit to single-hit kinetics of survival to UV after 60 min of thymine starvation. However, the limiting slope of UV survival curves decreases in the rec(+)uvr(+) strain and changes very little in several rec mutant strains and one uvrB mutant strain. Thus, when either the rec or uvr system is functioning alone, the limiting slopes of the UV survival curves are relatively unaffected by thymine starvation. (ii) Thymine starvation does not significantly inhibit repair processes carried out by either repair system alone; i.e., host cell reactivation of irradiated phage (carried out by the uvr system), excision of thymine dimers (uvr), or X-ray repair (rec). (iii) In a rec(+)uvr(+) strain, repair appears to be a synergistic rather than additive function of the two systems. However, after thymine starvation, repair capacity is reduced to about the sum of the repair capacities of the independent systems. (iv) The kinetics of thymineless death are not changed by rec and uvr mutations. This indicates that the lesions responsible for thymineless death are not repaired by rec or uvr systems. (v) Withholding thymine from thy rec(+)uvr(+) bacteria not undergoing thymineless death has no effect on UV sensitivity. Under these conditions one sees higher than normal UV resistance in the presence or absence of thymine. This is due to increased repair carried out by the uvr system. To explain these results we postulate that thymine starvation does not inhibit either the rec or uvr repair pathway directly. Rather it appears that thymine starvation results in increased UV sensitivity in part by inhibiting a function which normally carries out efficient coordination of rec and uvr pathways.