Comparative mutagenesis of Escherichia coli strains with different repair deficiencies irradiated with 222-nm and 254-nm ultraviolet light

Clauss M, Grotjohann N. Comparative mutagenesis of Escherichia coli strains with different repair deficiencies irradiated with 222-nm and 254-nm ultraviolet light. MUTATION RESEARCH-GENETIC TOXICOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL MUTAGENESIS. 2009;673(2):83-86.Photoinactivation and reversion to tryptophan prototrophy were studied in four Escherichia coli strains with different repair deficiencies. Cells were irradiated with 222-nm wavelength UV emitted by an excimer lamp and with 254-nm wavelength UV emitted by a low-pressure mercury lamp. Strain DSM 9494 (trp(-) uvrA(+)) turned out to be most resistant while the strain DSM 9495 (trp(-) uvrA(+)), which is defective in nucleotide-excision repair (NER) was most sensitive to both wavelengths. UV-fluence rates for a respective inactivation were twice as high for 222-nm wavelength UV than for 254-nm UV. No clear difference in efficiency of inactivation could be observed between the two wavelengths in strains DSM 9496 (trp(-) uvrA(+) pKM101) and DSM 9497 (trp(-) uvrA(-) pKM101). In general. more revertants were induced by 254-nm wavelength UV,which corroborates the hypothesis that a higher amount of DNA damage was induced by this wavelength than by 222-nm UV, except for DSM 9497 where no clear difference could be observed regarding the number of revertants induced by both wavelengths. This strain DSM 9497 has a high sensitivity to certain oxidative mutagens compared with other strains, which is indicative of formation of reactive oxygen species during irradiation with 222-nm wavelength UV. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved