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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1996

Methylation inhibitors can increase the rate of cytosine deamination by (cytosine-5)-DNA methyltransferase.

The target cytosines of (cytosine-5)-DNA methyltransferases in prokaryotic and eukaryotic DNA show increased rates of C-->T transition mutations compared to non-target cytosines. These mutations are induced either by the spontaneous deamination of 5-mC-->T generating inefficiently repaired G:T rather than G:U mismatches, or by the enzyme-induced C-->U deamination which occurs under conditions of reduced levels of S-adenosylmethionine (AdoMet) and S-adenosylhomocysteine (AdoHcy). We tested whether various inhibitors of (cytosine-5)-DNA methyltransferases analogous to AdoMet and AdoHcy would affect the rate of enzyme-induced deamination of the target cytosine by M.HpaII and M.SssI. Interestingly, we found two compounds, sinefungin and 5'-amino-5'-deoxyadenosine, that increased the rate of deamination 10(3)-fold in the presence and 10(4)-fold in the absence of AdoMet and AdoHcy. We have therefore identified the first mutagenic compounds specific for the target sites of (cytosine-5)-DNA methyltransferases. A number of analogs of AdoMet and AdoHcy have been considered as possible antiviral, anticancer, antifungal and antiparasitic agents. Our findings show that chemotherapeutic agents with affinities to the cofactor binding pocket of (cytosine-5)-DNA methyltransferase should be tested for their potential mutagenic effects.

Bacteria↗

PubMed1990

A sensitive genetic assay for the detection of cytosine deamination: determination of rate constants and the activation energy.

Previously it has not been possible to determine the rate of deamination of cytosine in DNA at 37 degrees C because this reaction occurs so slowly. We describe here a sensitive genetic assay to measure the rate of cytosine deamination in DNA at a single cytosine residue. The assay is based on reversion of a mutant in the lacZ alpha gene coding sequence of bacteriophage M13mp2 and employs ung- bacterial strains lacking the enzyme uracil glycosylase. The assay is sufficiently sensitive to allow us to detect, at a given site, a single deamination event occurring with a background frequency as low as 1 in 200,000. With this assay, we determined cytosine deamination rate constants in single-stranded DNA at temperatures ranging from 30 to 90 degrees C and then calculated that the activation energy for cytosine deamination in single-stranded DNA is 28 +/- 1 kcal/mol. At 80 degrees C, deamination rate constants at six sites varied by less than a factor of 3. At 37 degrees C, the cytosine deamination rate constants for single- and double-stranded DNA at pH 7.4 are 1 x 10(-10) and about 7 x 10(-13) per second, respectively. (In other words, the measured half-life for cytosine in single-stranded DNA at 37 degrees C is ca. 200 years, while in double-stranded DNA it is on the order of 30,000 years.) Thus, cytosine is deaminated approximately 140-fold more slowly when present in the double helix. These and other data indicate that the rate of deamination is strongly dependent upon DNA structure and the degree of protonation of the cytosine. The data suggest that agents which perturb DNA structure or facilitate direct protonation of cytosine may induce deamination at biologically significant rates. The assay provides a means to directly test the hypothesis.

Bacteriophages↗

PubMed2002

Protection of DNA by alpha/beta-type small, acid-soluble proteins from Bacillus subtilis spores against cytosine deamination.

Spores of Bacillus subtilis contain high levels of proteins, termed alpha/beta-type small, acid-soluble proteins (SASP), that protect the spore's DNA against different types of DNA damage. We tested one such protein, SspC, and two of its variants for their ability to protect plasmid DNA against hydrolytic deamination of cytosine to uracil. If unrepaired, such damage to DNA causes C to T mutations. We found that one SspC variant, SspC(Delta 11-D13K), protected DNA against cytosine deamination at two different temperatures (45 and 70 degrees C) and pH values (5.2 and 7.9), reducing the rate of deamination by as much as 10-fold. At 70 degrees C, pH 7.9, the wild-type SspC and its variant, SspC(Delta 11), provided little protection against deamination but were effective in protecting DNA at 45 degrees C, pH 7.9. Parallel studies of the abilities of these proteins to protect DNA against restriction digestion revealed that there was a good correlation between the abilities of the proteins to protect against restriction endonucleases and reductions in cytosine deaminations. These results show that the binding of SspC variants to DNA can prevent attack on DNA bases by water and suggest a new general mechanism by which DNA-binding proteins in cells may be able to protect chromosomes from endogenous and exogenous reactive chemicals by excluding them from the vicinity of DNA.

Bacillus subtilis↗

PubMed1994

Cytosine deaminations catalyzed by DNA cytosine methyltransferases are unlikely to be the major cause of mutational hot spots at sites of cytosine methylation in Escherichia coli.

Sites of cytosine methylation are hot spots for C to T mutations in Escherichia coli DNA. We have developed a genetic reversion assay that allows direct selection of C to T mutations at a site of methylation. Because the mutant gene is on a plasmid, this system can be used to study mutational effects of biochemical agents in vitro as well as in vivo. Using this system we show that in vitro an E. coli methyltransferase can cause C to U deaminations at a site of methylation. Reaction conditions that are known to inhibit a side reaction of the methyltransferase also suppress reversion frequency, suggesting that this side reaction is required for deamination. Furthermore, a mutation in the enzyme that eliminates its catalytic activity but not its ability to bind DNA eliminates the ability of the enzyme to cause C to U deaminations. Despite this, in vivo experiments strongly suggest that enzyme-catalyzed deaminations of cytosine do not play a major role in making methylation sites in E. coli hot spots for mutations. For example, although uracil-DNA glycosylase (Ung) suppresses the occurrence of mutations due to C to U deaminations, the frequency of C to T mutations at a methylation site remains high in ung+ cells. Furthermore, the reversion frequencies in ung+ and ung- cells are quite similar.

Base Sequence↗

PubMed1993

Cytosine deamination in mismatched base pairs.

The rate of deamination of cytosine in mismatched base pairs has been determined. Incubation of M13mp2 nicked heteroduplex DNA molecules containing T.C or C.C mispairs in the lacZ alpha-complementation gene results in deamination of cytosine to uracil, producing T.U or C.U mispairs. Strands which have undergone deamination at the target site to produce uracil will yield dark blue plaque revertants, while all other strands yield faint blue or colorless plaque phenotypes upon transfection of an ung- alpha-complementation Escherichia coli host strain. Rate constants were calculated from the reversion frequencies for several different heteroduplexes incubated at either 60 or 37 degrees C. For the 60 degrees C incubations, the hydrolytic deamination rate constants for mispairs in three different local sequence environments ranged from 8 x 10(-10) to 40 x 10(-10) s-1. For incubations at 37 degrees C, the rate constants were between 0.4 x 10(-10) and 1.3 x 10(-10) sec-1. At both temperatures and for all mispairs, these rate constants are significantly greater than deamination rate constants in properly matched Watson-Crick G.C base pairs and are similar to those constants determined for cytosine deamination in single-stranded DNA. Since deamination most likely occurs via a single-stranded intermediate, the data suggest that, at 37 degrees C, the T.C and C.C mispairs exhibit from 20% to 100% single-stranded character. We conclude that cytosine residues involved in a mispair in DNA are 1-2 orders of magnitude more prone to deaminate to uracil than are cytosines in double-stranded DNA.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Bacteriophage M13↗

PubMed1993

Echinomycin, a bis-intercalating agent, induces C-->T mutations via cytosine deamination.

Echinomycin, a bis-intercalating, antitumor drug, has been studied for its ability to induce the deamination of cytosine to uracil (C-->U) in double-stranded DNA. We have employed a sensitive lacZ alpha-complementation reversion assay to detect G.C-->A.T mutations at a number of sites in M13mp2 DNA to determine the extent to which distortions of DNA structure induced by echinomycin may affect C-->U rates. When double-stranded M13mp2 DNA with a 12-base target containing a CpG site was incubated at 37 degrees C, the reversion frequency of the echinomycin-treated DNA increased linearly over time, with a rate constant 3-fold greater than DNA incubated without echinomycin. Of the 11 ways that blue pseudo-revertants can occur in the target, 96% of the observed revertants arose from C-->T and tandem CC-->TT transitions, with 78% attributable to single-base C-->T changes at three sites. Transfection into ung+ cells decreased the reversion frequencies by 85% to near background levels, indicating that the increase in C-->T mutations was due to deamination of C to U. The cytosine deamination rate constants for the entire target at pH 6.0 and 37 degrees C were 1.2 x 10(-11) sec-1 for untreated DNA and 3.5 x 10(-11) sec-1 for echinomycin-treated DNA. The increase in C-->T mutation rates occurred at cytosines both proximal and distal to a CpG echinomycin-binding site. We hypothesize that this increase in deamination rate is due to a more open or single-stranded DNA structure caused by the echinomycin: DNA interaction.

Base Sequence↗

PubMed2005

Nitrosative cytosine deamination. An exploration of the chemistry emanating from deamination with pyrimidine ring-opening.

A discussion of nitrosative deamination of cytosine 1 is presented that argues for the formation of 6 by diazotization of 1 to cytosinediazonium ion 2 and its electrostatic complex 3, dediazoniation to 4 <--> 5, and amide-bond cleavage to 6. The reaction channels available to 6 include hydrolytic deglycation to 3-isocyanatoacrylonitrile 7, water addition to carbamic acid 9 with the possibility for re-closure to uracil 13, water addition to carbamic acid 9, and decarboxylation to 3-aminoacrylonitrile 10. With a view to the instability of the carbamic acid 9, the carbamate models ethyl (Z)-2-cyanovinylcarbamate 14 and (Z)-2-cyano-1-tert-butylvinylcarbamate 20 were studied. Acid-catalyzed hydrolysis of 14 leads to 2-amino-carbonylphenylcarbamate 15, and its cyclization yields the benzo-fused uracil quinazoline-2,4-dione 16. In contrast to the aromatic system 14, acid-catalyzed cyclization cannot compete with oligomerization in the case of 20, and 5-tert-butyluracil 22 is accessible only with base-catalysis. It is shown that 23, the parent of 10, also easily polymerizes. The experimental results provide a rationale as to why 9, 10, and 12 would have escaped detection in in vitro studies: they would have oligomerized. In contrast to the in vitro experiments, the oligomerizations of 9, 10, or 12 clearly are not relevant in vivo because of low monomer concentrations. With the exclusion of recyclization and of oligomerization in vivo, attention thus needs to focus on (Z)-3-aminoacrylonitrile 10 as the most likely deamination product of cytosine aside from uracil.

Carbamates↗

PubMed2000

Cytosine deamination plays a primary role in the evolution of mammalian isochores.

DNA melting is rate-limiting for cytosine deamination, from which we infer that the rate of cytosine deamination should decline twofold for each 10% increase in GC content. Analysis of human DNA sequence data confirms that this is the case for 5-methylcytosine. Several lines of evidence further confirm that it is also the case for unmethylated cytosine and that cytosine deamination causes the majority of all C-->T and G-->A transitions in mammals. Thus, cytosine deamination and DNA base composition each affect the other, forming a positive feedback loop that facilitates divergent genetic drift to high or low GC content. Because a 10 degrees C increase in temperature in vitro increases the rate of cytosine deamination 5. 7-fold, cytosine deamination must be highly dependent on body temperature, which is consistent with the dramatic differences between the isochores of warm-blooded versus cold-blooded vertebrates. Because this process involves both DNA melting and positive feedback, it would be expected to spread progressively (in evolutionary time) down the length of the chromosome, which is consistent with the large size of isochores in modern mammals.

5-Methylcytosine↗

PubMed1994

Bisulfite induces tandem double CC-->TT mutations in double-stranded DNA. 2. Kinetics of cytosine deamination.

Deamination of cytosine to uracil in double-stranded DNA (ds DNA) by sodium bisulfite has been monitored with a sensitive genetic assay. In this system, reversion of a mutant in the lacZ alpha gene coding sequence of bacteriophage M13mp2 C141 was detected by employing an ung- bacterial strain defective in the enzyme uracil glycosylase. Within the 4-base target, it is possible to measure the rates of induction of C-->T, C-->A, C-->G, and CC-->TT mutations in DNA that has been incubated at physiological temperature and pH and then transfected into ung+ and ung- E. coli cells, respectively, for amplification and detection of the mutation. For concentrations of bisulfite from 1 to 50 mM, the reversion frequency in ung- cells increased linearly with time of incubation. The most interesting features of the bisulfite reaction were as follow: (1) Mutations were reduced 5-fold in ung+ cells, indicating ung is involved in repair of bisulfite-treated transforming DNA. (2) Sequencing of 157 revertants revealed that C-->T and tandem CC-->TT transition mutations comprised 100% of the mutations scored. (3) A unique finding was that, at the highest concentrations and longest incubation times, almost every mutant obtained in ds DNA exposed to bisulfite was found to be a CC-->TT tandem double mutation. (4) The high frequency of tandem double mutants is inconsistent with two random, independent mutational events and, coupled with the observed ung dependence, lends support to the concept of catalytic deamination, wherein bisulfite induces deamination in contiguous cytosines by a concerted mechanism.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Bacteriophage M13↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Relative contribution of cytosine deamination and error-prone replication to the induction of propanodeoxyguanosine-->deoxyadenosine mutations in Escherichia coli.

The role of cytosine deamination as a possible mechanism for PdG-->A transitions induced by propanodeoxyguanosine (PdG) was investigated by site-specific mutagenesis techniques. PdG was placed at position 6256 in the (-)-strand of M13MB102 by ligating the oligodeoxynucleotide 5'-GGT(PdG)TCCG-3' into a gapped-duplex derivative of the vector. Unmodified and PdG-modified M13MB102 genomes containing either uracil or thymine in the (+)-strand were transformed into Escherichia coli strains differing in their ability to excise uracil bases from DNA. After replication of the site specifically modified M13MB102, base-pair substitutions were detected by in situ hybridization using [32P]-labeled probes containing each of the possible mismatched bases opposite position 6256 in the (+)-strand. The ratio of PdG-->A and PdG-->T was unchanged in strains defective in the repair of uracil residues, which suggests that uracil is not an intermediate in the generation of PdG-->A mutations. Similar results were obtained when PdG-M13MB102 was incubated for 14 days prior to transformation in an attempt to increase the extent of deamination. As a control experiment to test the sensitivity of the assay to detect deaminations opposite PdG, uracil-containing M13MB102 with a PdG.T mismatch at position 6256 was transformed into E. coli JM105. Hybridization analysis indicated that approximately 80% of the phage plaques generated after genome replication contained T in the (+)-strand at position 6256. Thus, any deamination of cytosine to uracil would have been easily detected. Adducted and unadducted genomes were also transformed into E. coli LM114 or LM113, which carry a mutant umuD or umuC gene, respectively. Significant and comparable reductions in PdG-->A and PdG-->T were observed, suggesting that both mutations require the active participation of the UmuD and the UmuC proteins in the replication complex. The results of our experiments suggest that the PdG-->A mutations induced by PdG are not caused by cytosine deamination, but arise coincident with PdG-->T mutations during replication of the PdG-containing genomes. Also, the uracil-containing (+)-strand does not appear to be degraded, as is commonly assumed in site-specific mutagenesis experiments, and serves as a template for DNA synthesis when replication of the (-)-strand is blocked by an adduct such as PdG.

Bacteriophage M13↗

PubMed2002

Wide intra-genomic G+C heterogeneity in human and chicken is mainly due to strand-symmetric directional mutation pressures: dGTP-oxidation and symmetric cytosine-deamination hypotheses.

The intra-strand Parity Rule 2 of DNA (PR2) states that A=T and G=C within each strands. Useful corollaries of PR2 are G/(G+C)=A/(A+T)=0.5, G/(G+A)=C/(C+T)=G+C, G/(G+T)=C/(C+A)=G+C. Here. A, T, G, and C represent relative contents of the four nucleotide residues in a specific strand of DNA, so that A+T+G+C=1. Thus, deviations from the PR2 is a sign of strand-specific (or asymmetric) mutation and/or selection pressures. The present study delineates the symmetric and asymmetric effects of mutations on the intra-genomic heterogeneity of the G+C content in the human genome. The results of this study on the human genome are: (1) When both two- and four-codon amino acids were combined, only slight departures from the PR2 were observed in the total ranges of G+C content of the third-codon position. Thus, the G+C heterogeneity is likely to be caused by symmetric mutagenesis between the two strands. (2) The above result makes the deamination of cytosine due to double-strand breathing of DNA [Mol. Biol. Evol. 17 (2000) 1371] and/or incorporation of the oxidized guanine (8-oxo-guanine) opposite adenine during DNA replication (dGTP-oxidation hypothesis) as the most likely candidates for the major cause of the diversities of the G+C content. (3) Patterns of amino acid-specific PR2-biases detected by plotting PR2 corollaries against the G+C content of third codon position revealed that eight four-codon amino acids can be divided into three types by the second codon letter: (a) C(2)-type (Ala, Pro, Ser4, and Thr), (b) G(2)-type (Arg4 and Gly), and (c) T(2)-type (Leu4 and Val). (4) Most of the asymmetric plot patterns of the above three classes in PR2 biases can be explained by C(2)-->T(2) deamination of C(2)pG(3) of C(2)-type to T(2)pG(3) (T(2)-type) in both human and chicken. This explains the existence of some preferred codons in human and chicken. However, these biases (asymmetric) hardly contribute to the overall G+C content diversity of the third codon position.

Animals↗

PubMed1998

Enzyme-mediated cytosine deamination by the bacterial methyltransferase M.MspI.

Most prokaryotic (cytosine-5)-DNA methyltransferases increase the frequency of deamination at the cytosine targeted for methylation in vitro in the absence of the cofactor S-adenosylmethionine (AdoMet) or the reaction product S-adenosylhomocysteine (AdoHcy). We show here that, under the same in vitro conditions, the prokaryotic methyltransferase, M.MspI (from Moraxella sp.), causes very few cytosine deaminations, suggesting a mechanism in which M.MspI may avoid enzyme-mediated cytosine deamination. Two analogues of AdoMet, sinefungin and 5'-amino-5'-deoxyadenosine, greatly increased the frequency of cytosine deamination mediated by M.MspI presumably by introducing a proton-donating amino group into the catalytic centre, thus facilitating the formation of an unstable enzyme-dihydrocytosine intermediate and hydrolytic deamination. Interestingly, two naturally occurring analogues, adenosine and 5'-methylthio-5'-deoxyadenosine, which do not contain a proton-donating amino group, also weakly increased the deamination frequency by M.MspI, even in the presence of AdoMet or AdoHcy. These analogues may trigger a conformational change in the enzyme without completely inhibiting the access of solvent water to the catalytic centre, thus allowing hydrolytic deamination of the enzyme-dihydrocytosine intermediate. Under normal physiological conditions the enzymes M.HpaII (from Haemophilus parainfluenzae), M. HhaI (from Haemophilus hemolytica) and M.MspI all increased the in vivo deamination frequency at the target cytosines with comparable efficiency.

Adenosine↗

PubMed1993

Kinetics of bisulfite-induced cytosine deamination in single-stranded DNA.

The rate of bisulfite-induced deamination of cytosine to uracil in single-stranded (ss) DNA at physiological temperature and pH was monitored by a sensitive genetic assay. The assay is based on reversion of a mutation in the lacZ alpha gene of bacteriophage M13mp2 and employs ung- (NR9404) and ung+ (MC1061) bacterial strains which are isogenic except for uracil glycosylase activity. For ss DNA incubated with 1-50 mM bisulfite and transfected into an ung- cell strain, the reversion frequency increased linearly with time of incubation and with concentration of bisulfite. Of 54 revertants sequenced, all were C-->T transitions. Reduction in reversion frequency upon transfecting ss DNA into ung+ cells indicated that the majority of mutations were occurring via a uracil intermediate. Assuming that all revertants arose via uracil, the pseudo-first-order rate constant for deamination in 10 mM sodium bisulfite and 10 mM Hepes-NaOH, pH 7.4, at 37 degrees C as measured by transfecting into an ung- cell strain was 3.5 x 10(-10) s-1, as compared to a spontaneous background rate constant of 0.6 x 10(-10) s-1 in buffer alone.

Bacteriophages↗

PubMed2000

Reviving a dead enzyme: cytosine deaminations promoted by an inactive DNA methyltransferase and an S-adenosylmethionine analogue.

The enzymes that transfer a methyl group to C5 of cytosine within specific sequences (C5 Mtases) deaminate the target cytosine to uracil if the methyl donor S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) is omitted from the reaction. Recently, it was shown that cytosine deamination caused by C5 Mtases M.HpaII, M.SssI and M.MspI is enhanced in the presence of several analogues of SAM, and a mechanism for this analogue-promoted deamination was proposed. According to this mechanism, the analogues protonate C5 of the target cytosine, creating a dihydrocytosine intermediate that is susceptible to deamination. We show here that one of these analogues, 5'-aminoadenosine (AA), enhances cytosine deamination by the Mtase M. EcoRII, but it does so without enhancing protonation of C5. Further, we show that uracil is an intermediate in the mutational pathway and propose an alternate mechanism for the analogue-promoted deamination. The new mechanism involves a facilitated water attack at C4 but does not require attack at C6 by the enzyme. The latter feature of the mechanism was tested by using M.EcoRII mutants defective in the nucleophilic attack at C6 in the deamination assay. We find that although these proteins are defective in methyl transfer and cytosine deamination, they cause cytosine deaminations in the presence of AA in the reaction. Our results point to a possible connection between the catalytic mechanism of C5 Mtases and of enzymes that transfer methyl groups to N(4) of cytosine. Further, they provide an unusual example where a coenzyme activates an otherwise "dead" enzyme to perform catalysis by a new reaction pathway.

Adenosine↗

PubMed2001

Bisulfite-induced cytosine deamination rates in E. coli SSB:DNA complexes.

E. coli single-stranded binding protein (SSB) has been examined for its ability to modulate bisulfite-induced cytosine deamination rates in single-stranded DNA (ssDNA). We used a lacZ alpha-complementation reversion assay to detect C-->U rates at a single codon in M13mp2 DNA, whether in free ssDNA or in an SSB:ssDNA complex. When incubated at 37 degrees C, the average bisulfite-induced reversion rate constant was four-fold less in SSB:ssDNA complexes than in ssDNA, at a single codon. Across a 250 base pair target and over 23 scorable C-->U sites, the forward rate constant was 4.9-fold less in SSB:ssDNA complexes than in ssDNA alone. After treatment with N-uracil glycosylase, ssDNA incubated with bisulfite had reversion frequencies at the background rate of ssDNA incubated without bisulfite, indicating that virtually all mutations scored were due to C-->U events. The decrease in cytosine deamination rates occurred both in a single codon and over a 250 bp target, indicating that interactions between SSB and ssDNA reduce bisulfite-catalyzed mutations. The structural role of SSB is well recognized in multiple cellular processes; SSB can also function to minimize bisulfite-induced ssDNA mutations.

Cytosine↗

PubMed2006

Chemical carcinogens in non-enzymatic cytosine deamination: 3-isocyanatoacrylonitrile.

Uracil has long been known as the main product of nitrosative cytosine deamination in aqueous solution. Recent mechanistic studies of cytosinediazonium ion suggest that the cation formed by its dediazoniation can ring-open to N-protonated (Z,s-cis)-3-isocyanatoacrylonitrile 7. Stereochemical preferences are discussed of the 3-isocyanatoacrylonitriles (Z,s-cis)-10, (E,s-cis)-11, (Z,s-trans)-12, and (E,s-trans)-13. The electronic structures of 7 and 10-13 have been analyzed and a rationale is provided for the thermodynamic preference for (Z,s-cis)-10. It is shown that s-cis/s-trans-interconversion occurs via C-N rotation-inversion paths with barriers below 3 kcal mol(-1). The proton affinities of 3-isocyanatoacrylonitrile 10 and water are nearly identical and, thus, 3-isocyanatoacrylonitriles can and should be formed in aqueous media from 7 along with 3-aminoacrylonitriles 9. The results highlight the relevance of the chemistry of 3-isocyanatoacrylonitriles for the understanding of the chemical toxicology of nitrosation of the nucleobase cytosine.

Acrylonitrile↗

PubMed1974

An N-glycosidase from Escherichia coli that releases free uracil from DNA containing deaminated cytosine residues.

An enzyme that liberates uracil from single-stranded and double-stranded DNA containing deaminated cytosine residues and from deoxycytidylate-deoxyuridylate copolymers in the absence of Mg(++) has been purified 30-fold from cell extracts of E. coli. The enzyme does not release uracil from deoxyuridine, dUMP, uridine, or RNA, nor does it liberate the normally occurring pyrimidine bases, cytosine and thymine, from DNA. The enzymatic cleavage of N-glycosidic bonds in DNA occurs without concomitant cleavage of phosphodiester bonds, resulting in the formation of free uracil and DNA strands of unaltered chain length that contain apyrimidinic sites as reaction products. The enzyme may be active in DNA repair, converting deaminated dCMP residues to an easily repairable form.

Binding Sites↗

PubMed1989

On the possible role of cytosine deamination in delayed photoreversal mutagenesis targeted at thymine-cytosine dimers in E. coli.

While delayed photoreversal (PR) mutagenesis has been interpreted as a measure of misincorporation step in targeted mutagenesis, the specificity to produce glutamine tRNA suppressor mutations (C to T transitions) at sites in DNA where a thymine-cytosine dimer (T = C) may target mutation suggests a deamination model: deamination T = C to T = U and trans-U DNA replication after PR. We describe here two enquires that did not support the latter model: (a) Uracil DNA glycosylase activity as estimated from the restricted plating efficiency of phage T5 containing uracil-substituted DNA showed no variation that might allow an exceptional opportunity for mutation at U in DNA, and (b). The kinetics of delayed PR mutagenesis were unaltered if UV-irradiated cells were held in buffer suspension for 2 h at 41 degrees C (a procedure known to allow deamination T = C to T = U) and then assayed. Other results with cells containing both umuC and ung (uracil DNA glycosylase) defects showed the magnitude of T = C deamination sufficient to provide T = U at the critical site of mutation to an extent greater than the mutation frequencies produced by delayed PR mutagenesis, and considerations of the kinetics led to the suggestion that the deamination model could apply if there were an optimum period 30-130 min post-UV for efficient recovery of DNA replication after PR. The results underscored the feasibility of delayed PR mutagenesis by deamination and trans-U replication, but a selection between the two models could not be determined.

Base Sequence↗