Synergism of dam, MutH, and MutS in methylation-directed mismatch repair in Escherichia coli

This study showed that mutS defect produced a higher mutation frequency than mutH did. Interestingly, double defects in dam and mutS synergistically produced a dramatically higher spontaneous mutation frequency than the summation of mutation frequencies of FX-11 strains with individual deficiency of dam or mutS, suggesting that Dam may work with MutHL to partially accomplish the task of recognizing the mismatch sites to retain partial mismatch repair capacity.
Source: Mutation Research Fundamental and Molecular Mechanisms of Mutagenesis - Category: Cytology Source Type: research