Identifying Small Molecules That Promote Quasipalindrome-Associated Template-Switch Mutations in Escherichia coli

Spontaneous and double-strand break repair-associated quasipalindrome and frameshift mutagenesis in budding yeast: role of mismatch repair

Although gene conversion (GC) in Saccharomyces cerevisiae is the most error-free way to repair double-strand breaks (DSBs), the mutation rate during homologous recombination is 1,000 times greater than during replication. Many mutations involve dissociating a partially copied strand from its repair template and re-aligning with the same or another template, leading to -1 frameshifts in homonucleotide runs, quasipalindrome (QP)-associated mutations and microhomology-mediated interchromosomal template switches. We studied GC induced by HO endonuclease cleavage at MATα, repaired by an HMR::KI-URA3 donor. We inserted into HMR::KI-URA3 an 18-bp inverted repeat where one arm had a 4-bp insertion. Most GCs yield MAT::KI-ura3::QP + 4 (Ura-) outcomes, but template-switching produces Ura+ colonies, losing the 4-bp insertion. If the QP arm without the insertion is first encountered by repair DNA polymerase and is then (mis)used as a template, the palindrome is perfected. When the QP + 4 arm is encountered first, Ura+ derivatives only occur after second-end capture and second-strand synthesis. QP + 4 mutations are suppressed by mismatch repair (MMR) proteins Msh2, Msh3, and Mlh1, but not Msh6. Deleting Rdh54 significantly reduces QP mutations only when events creating Ura+ occur in the context of a D-loop but not during second-strand synthesis. A similar bias is found with a proofreading-defective DNA polymerase mutation (poI3-01). DSB-induced mutations differed in several genetic requirements from spontaneous events. We also created a + 1 frameshift in the donor, expanding a run of 4 Cs to 5 Cs. Again, Ura+ recombinants markedly increased by disabling MMR, suggesting that MMR acts during GC but favors the unbroken, template strand.

DNA damage-signaling, homologous recombination and genetic mutation induced by 5-azacytidine and DNA-protein crosslinks in Escherichia coli

Covalent linkage between DNA and proteins produces highly toxic lesions and can be caused by commonly used chemotherapeutic agents, by internal and external chemicals and by radiation. In this study, using Escherichia coli, we investigate the consequences of 5-azacytidine (5-azaC), which traps covalent complexes between itself and the Dcm cytosine methyltransferase protein. DNA protein crosslink-dependent effects can be ascertained by effects that arise in wild-type but not in dcmΔ strains. We find that 5-azaC induces the bacterial DNA damage response and stimulates homologous recombination, a component of which is Dcm-dependent. Template-switching at an imperfect inverted repeat ("quasipalindrome", QP) is strongly enhanced by 5-azaC and this enhancement was entirely Dcm-dependent and independent of double-strand break repair. The SOS response helps ameliorate the mutagenic effect of 5-azaC but this is not a result of SOS-induced DNA polymerases since their induction, especially PolIV, seems to stimulate QP-associated mutagenesis. Cell division regulator SulA was also required for recovery of QP mutants induced by 5-azaC. In the absence of Lon protease, Dcm-dependent QP-mutagenesis is strongly elevated, suggesting it may play a role in DPC tolerance. Deletions at short tandem repeats, which occur likewise by a replication template-switch, are elevated, but only modestly, by 5-azaC. We see evidence for Dcm-dependent and-independent killing by 5-azaC in sensitive mutants, such as recA, recB, and lon; homologous recombination and deletion mutations are also stimulated in part by a Dcm-independent effect of 5-azaC. Whether this occurs by a different protein/DNA crosslink or by an alternative form of DNA damage is unknown.