Mutagenic and error-free DNA repair in Streptomyces.

Two mutants of Streptomyces fradiae defective in DNA repair have been characterized for their responses to the mutagenic and lethal effects of several chemical mutagens and ultraviolet (UV) light. S. fradiae JS2 (mcr-2) was more sensitive than wild type to agents which produce bulky lesions resulting in large distortions of the double helix [i.e. UV-light, 4-nitroquinoline-1-oxide (NQO), and mitomycin C (MC)] but not to agents which produce small lesions [i.e. hydroxylamine (HA), methyl methanesulfonate (MMS), ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS) and N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG)]. JS2 expressed a much higher frequency of mutagenesis induced by UV-light at low doses and thus appeared to be defective in an error-free excision repair pathway for bulky lesions analogous to the uvr ABC pathway of Escherichia coli. S. fradiae JS4 (mcr-4) was defective in repair of damage by most agents which produce small or bulky lesions (i.e., HA, NQO, MMS, MNNG, MC, and UV, but not EMS). JS4 was slightly hypermutable by EMS and MMS but showed reduced mutagenesis by NQO and HA. This unusual phenotype suggests that the mcr-4+ protein plays some role in error-prone repair in S. fradiae.