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Dark repair of DNA containing “spore photoproduct” in Bacillus subtilis

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Summary

The major thymine-containing photoproduct—5-thyminyl-5, 6-dihydrothymine, or TDHT—in DNA of UV-irradiated bacterial spores is known to be removed during spore germination. In normal Bacillus subtilis this removal is now shown to occur both by excision and by a second, distinct, “spore repair” process, which changes the photoproduct to a harmless form in situ. An energy source for the cells, suppliable by glucose, is required for excision to function at all, and for the “spore repair” process to proceed beyond a limited photoproduct removal. Both repairs can function fully in spores germinated in the presence of 150 μg-ml chloramphenicol or 5 μg-ml rifampincin. The “spore repair” mechanism does not function in vegetative cells when these are transformed by TDHT-containing DNA extracted from irradiated baceterial spores.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Molecular Biology, University of Texas at Dallas, Dallas, Texas

    Nobuo Munakata & Claud S. Rupert

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  1. Nobuo Munakata
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  2. Claud S. Rupert
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Communicated by B. A. Bridges

Supported by U.S. Public Health Service Research Grants GM 16547 and GM 13234, from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, and by Biomedical Sciences Support Grant RR-07133 from the Division of Research Resources, National Institutes of Health.

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Munakata, N., Rupert, C.S. Dark repair of DNA containing “spore photoproduct” in Bacillus subtilis . Molec. Gen. Genet. 130, 239–250 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00268802

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00268802

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