INDUCTION OF ERROR-FREE DNA-REPAIR IN ESCHERICHIA-COLI BY NONMUTAGENIC STRESS

Our previous studies have shown that heat shock and nutritional stress produce an increase in UV resistance and a decrease in UV-induced mutation frequency in DNA repair-proficient strains of Escherichia coli K12. The effect depends on nucleotide excision repair and requires protein synthesis. We now show that comparable changes occur after oxidation stress, exposure to ethanol, or osmotic shock, all in conditions that do not affect the natural mutation frequency. The results support the hypothesis that many unrelated, nonmutagenic treatments elicit a common protective response in these cells that involves induction of an error-free DNA excision repair system.