A strain of Yersinia pestis with a mutator phenotype from the Republic of Georgia

作者：Rajanna Chythanya; Ouellette Gary; Rashid Mohammed; Zemla Adam; Karavis Mark; Zhou Carol; Revazishvili Tamara; Redmond Brady; McNew Lauren; Bakanidze Lela; Imnadze Paata; Rivers Bryan; Skowronski Evan W; O'Connell Kevin P; Sulakvelidze Alexander; Gibbons Henry S^*

来源：FEMS Microbiology Letters, 2013, 343(2): 113-120.

DOI：10.1111/1574-6968.12137

• Yersinia pestis
• mutator
• DNA repair
• mutS
• evolution

We describe here a strain of Yersinia pestis, G1670A, which exhibits a baseline mutation rate elevated 250-fold over wild-type Y.pestis. The responsible mutation, a C to T substitution in the mutS gene, results in the transition of a highly conserved leucine at position 689 to arginine (mutS(L689R)). When the MutSL689R protein of G1670A was expressed in a mutS derivative of Y.pestis strain EV76, mutation rates observed were equivalent to those observed in G1670A, consistent with a causal association between the mutS mutation and the mutator phenotype. The observation of a mutator allele in Yersinia pestis has potential implications for the study of evolution of this and other especially dangerous pathogens.

• 出版日期2013-6