UV-induced mutagenesis of phage S13 can occur in the absence of the RecA and UmuC proteins of Escherichia coli.

The UV-induced mutagenesis of phage S13 that accompanies Weigle repair is known to require the products of the recA and umuDC genes, as does the UV-induced mutagenesis of the Escherichia coli chromosome. I found that UV-induced mutagenesis of phage S13 occurred in the absence of both the RecA and UmuC functions when the irradiated phage was photoreactivated. Furthermore, UV-induced phage mutations were produced in a recA- umuC- cell even without photoreactivation and in the absence of any other known UV repair mechanism, at a frequency 29% of that found after photoreactivation and 7% of that found after Weigle repair, implying that DNA synthesis can proceed past a dimer at an unexpectedly high frequency even when unaided by the UmuC-RecA SOS repair functions. The unaided DNA synthesis appears capable of producing mutations in the vicinity of a pyrimidine dimer; by aiding synthesis past a dimer, a repair mechanism may disclose a mutation without having any active role in producing it.