Mutants of Shigella sonnei deficient in DNA polymerase I.

Mutants of Shigella sonnei (S. sonnei) deficient in DNA polymerase I were isolated after mutagenesis with nitrosoguanidine. The isolation of the mutants was facilitated by the use of a strain harboring plasmid pBR313 which required DNA polymerase I for its muliplication. The mutants isolated could not maintain the plasmid and became sensitive to methyl methanesulfonate (MMS) and to ultraviolet light (UV) irradiation. Assays performed on crude extracts established that the mutants were deficient in an enzyme with DNA polymerase activity. All of these properties are the same as those of E. coli polA. Several MMS-resistant revertants isolated from one of the S. sonnei polA mutants regained 3-120% of the DNA polymerase activity found in the extracts of the wild-type parent strain. Most though not all of the revertants could support the multiplication of plasmid pBR313.