High mutation frequencies among Escherichia coli and Salmonella pathogens.

Science (New York, N.Y.) ·Vol. 274 ·No. 5290 ·1996-11-15 ·Pages 1208-11

LeClerc JE, Li B, Payne WL, Cebula TA

Abstract

Here it is reported that the incidence of mutators among isolates of pathogenic Escherichia coli and Salmonella enterica is high (over 1 percent). These findings counter the theory, founded on studies with laboratory-attenuated strains, that suggests mutators are rare among bacterial populations. Defects in methyl-directed mismatch repair underlie all mutator phenotypes described here. Of nine independently derived hypermutable strains, seven contained a defective mutS allele. Because these mutant alleles increase the mutation rate and enhance recombination among diverse species, these studies may help explain both the rapid emergence of antibiotic resistance and the penetrance of virulence genes within the prokaryotic community.

MeSH Terms

Adenosine Triphosphatases Bacterial Proteins/genetics Biological Evolution Cloning, Molecular DNA Repair/genetics DNA-Binding Proteins Disease Outbreaks Drug Resistance, Microbial/genetics Escherichia coli/genetics,pathogenicity Escherichia coli Infections/epidemiology,microbiology Escherichia coli O157/genetics,pathogenicity Escherichia coli Proteins Food Microbiology Genetic Complementation Test Humans Molecular Sequence Data MutS DNA Mismatch-Binding Protein Mutation Phenotype Polymerase Chain Reaction Recombination, Genetic Salmonella/genetics,pathogenicity Salmonella Food Poisoning/epidemiology,microbiology Selection, Genetic Sequence Deletion Sigma Factor/genetics Virulence/genetics

Chemicals

Bacterial Proteins DNA-Binding Proteins Escherichia coli Proteins Sigma Factor sigma factor KatF protein, Bacteria Adenosine Triphosphatases MutS DNA Mismatch-Binding Protein MutS protein, E coli

Authors & Affiliations

4 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID

LeClerc J E

Molecular Biology Branch, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (HFS-235), Food and Drug Administration, Washington, DC 20204, USA. [email protected]

Li B

Payne W L

Cebula T A

Article Info

Journal

Science (New York, N.Y.)

Abbr.

Science

ISSN

0036-8075

DOI

10.1126/science.274.5290.1208

[email protected]

Published

1996-11-15

Pages

1208-11

Language

English

Region

United States

NLM ID

0404511

Subset

Databases

GENBANK

U29579, U69873

Corrections

CommentIn

PMID: 8966583

CommentIn

PMID: 9324769

External Links

PubMed source DOI: 10.1126/science.274.5290.1208 View journal details

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High mutation frequencies among Escherichia coli and Salmonella pathogens.

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