Basic ideas about the constancy and randomness of mutagenesis that drives evolution were challenged by the discovery of mutation pathways activated by stress responses. These pathways could promote evolution specifically when cells are maladapted to their environment (i.e., are stressed). However, the clearest example—a general stress-response–controlled switch to error-prone DNA break (double-strand break, DSB) repair—was suggested to be peculiar to an Escherichia coli F′ conjugative plasmid, not generally significant, and to occur by an alternative stress-independent mechanism. Moreover, mechanisms of spontaneous mutation in E. coli remain obscure. First, we demonstrate that this same mechanism occurs in chromosomes of starving F − E. coli . I-SceI endonuclease-induced chromosomal DSBs increase mutation 50-fold, dependent upon general/starvation- and DNA-damage-stress responses, DinB error-prone DNA polymerase, and DSB-repair proteins. Second, DSB repair is also mutagenic if the RpoS general-stress-response activator is expressed in unstressed cells, illustrating a stress-response–controlled switch to mutagenic repair. Third, DSB survival is not improved by RpoS or DinB, indicating that mutagenesis is not an inescapable byproduct of repair. Importantly, fourth, fully half of spontaneous frame-shift and base-substitution mutation during starvation also requires the same stress-response, DSB-repair, and DinB proteins. These data indicate that DSB-repair-dependent stress-induced mutation, driven by spontaneous DNA breaks, is a pathway that cells usually use and a major source of spontaneous mutation. These data also rule out major alternative models for the mechanism. Mechanisms that couple mutagenesis to stress responses can allow cells to evolve rapidly and responsively to their environment.
Sewing Up DNA Repair All cells have a battery of DNA-repair pathways to help ensure genome maintenance and stability, including stress-induced DNA break repair in Escherichia coli. Similar pathways—which can be mutagenic—are known in yeast and human cells and have the potential to accelerate evolution. Sixteen proteins are known to be required for the pathway in E. coli. Al Mamun et al. (p. 1344 ) analyzed the E. coli pathway to determine the full complement of protein contributions to the pathway. Ninety-three genes were found to be required for stress-induced DNA break repair. One-third of the proteins identified in the network were involved in electron transfer, functioning in oxidative phosphorylation, and acting through the σ s stress response pathway, which thus represents a critical hub in the network.
Mechanisms of mutagenesis activated by stress responses drive pathogen/host adaptation, antibiotic and anti-fungal-drug resistance, and perhaps much of evolution generally. In Escherichia coli, repair of double-strand breaks (DSBs) by homologous recombination is high fidelity in unstressed cells, but switches to a mutagenic mode using error-prone DNA polymerases when the both the SOS and general (σS) stress responses are activated. Additionally, the σE response promotes spontaneous DNA breakage that leads to mutagenic break repair (MBR). We identified the regulatory protein PhoU in a genetic screen for functions required for MBR. PhoU negatively regulates the phosphate-transport and utilization (Pho) regulon when phosphate is in excess, including the PstB and PstC subunits of the phosphate-specific ABC transporter PstSCAB. Here, we characterize the PhoU mutation-promoting role. First, some mutations that affect phosphate transport and Pho transcriptional regulation decrease mutagenesis. Second, the mutagenesis and regulon-expression phenotypes do not correspond, revealing an apparent new function(s) for PhoU. Third, the PhoU mutagenic role is not via activation of the σS, SOS or σE responses, because mutations (or DSBs) that restore mutagenesis to cells defective in these stress responses do not restore mutagenesis to phoU cells. Fourth, the mutagenesis defect in phoU-mutant cells is partially restored by deletion of arcA, a gene normally repressed by PhoU, implying that a gene(s) repressed by ArcA promotes mutagenic break repair. The data show a new role for PhoU in regulation, and a new regulatory branch of the stress-response signaling web that activates mutagenic break repair in E. coli.
