Hyper-Recombining Recipient Strains in Bacterial Conjugation |
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Authors: | Sheldon I. Feinstein and K. Brooks Low |
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Affiliation: | Radiobiology Laboratories, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06510 |
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Abstract: | Using a direct enrichment and screening procedure, mutants of Escherichia coli have been isolated in which recombination frequencies for several intragenic Hfr X F- crosses are significantly higher (twofold to sixfold) than in the parental strains. These hyper-recombination mutations comprised five new mutS- and one new mutL- allele. Together with other known mut- alleles, they were analyzed for effects on intragenic recombination using several types of crosses. Hyper-recombination was found for mutS-, mutL-, mutH (= mutR)- and mutU (= uvrD)-, with the largest effects seen for certain alleles of uvrD; these resulted in over 20-fold excesses in recombinant production for Hfr X F- crosses and F'-chromosome homogenotization. Spontaneous mutator ability was not always correlated with degree of hyper-recombination. |
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