Summary
During transformation of Streptococcus pneumoniae, mismatch repair occurs on donor-recipient heteroduplexes harboring some mismatched base pairs. A few mutants defective in mismatch repair have been isolated and termed hex -. However, neither the number of genes involved nor their products have yet been identified. In an attempt to characterize such genes we have used an additive transformation approach — that is the inactivation of genes by insertion of chimeric plasmids. Pneumococcal DNA fragments were joined in vitro to a plasmid derivative of pBR325 that carries an erythromycin resistance determinant and does not replicate autonomously in S. pneumoniae. Ery-r transformants obtained with such a ligation mixture arise via homology-dependent integration of the chimeric plasmids into the chromosome. Hex - mutants have been selected among the ery-r population. Comparison of these mutants by Southern blot hybridization with a vector probe reveals that at least two genes are involved in mismatch repair.
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Communicated by E. Bautz
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Claverys, JP., Prats, H., Vasseghi, H. et al. Identification of Streptococcus pneumoniae mismatch repair genes by an additive transformation approach. Mol Gen Genet 196, 91–96 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00334098
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00334098