Hotspot sites for acridine-induced frameshift mutations in bacteriophage T4 correspond to sites of action of the T4 type II topoisomerase.

The type II topoisomerase of bacteriophage T4 is a central determinant of the frequency and specificity of acridine-induced frameshift mutations. Acridine-induced frameshift mutagenesis is specifically reduced in a mutant defective in topoisomerase activity. The ability of an acridine to promote topoisomerase-dependent cleavage at specific DNA sites in vitro is correlated to its ability to produce frameshift mutations at those sites in vivo. The specific phosphodiester bonds cleaved in vitro are precisely those at which frameshifts are most strongly promoted by acridines in vivo. The cospecificity of in vitro cleavage and in vivo mutation implicate acridine-induced, topoisomerase-mediated DNA cleavages as intermediates of acridine-induced mutagenesis in T4.