Summary
In pneumococcal transformation a particular point mutation belonging to the amiA locus is able markedly to enhance recombination frequency when crossed with any other markers of this gene. This results from a polarized conversion of the mutation towards the wild-type sequence. In this report, by site-directed oligonucleotide mutagenesis, we have generated a series of mutants showing various degrees of conversion. We have found that the substitution 5′-ATTCAT→5′-ATTAAT is a sufficient signal for localized conversion. Changing individual bases within this sequence results in decreased conversion frequencies to levels that depend on the mutation, suggesting that there is a family to related sequences which may act as a substrate for a conversion system. Moreover, the length over which this conversion occurs has been estimated to be 12 base pairs on the average.
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Garcia, P., Gasc, AM., Kyriakidis, X. et al. DNA sequences required to induce localized conversion in Streptococcus pneumoniae transformation. Mol Gen Genet 214, 509–513 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00330488
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00330488