Kasugamycin inhibition of nonsense suppression by thymine-requiring strains of Escherichia coli K12.

Thymine-requiring strains of Escherichia coli suppress nonsense and frame-shift mutations. This appears to occur during translation, suggesting that the lack of activity of an enzyme thymidylate synthase, required for the synthesis of a DNA precursor, alters the fidelity of translation. The aminoglycoside antibiotic kasugamycin, which enhances translational accuracy in vitro, prevents thymine-requiring cells from suppressing. The inhibition of suppression by kasugamycin is not prevented by the introduction of two different kasugamycin-resistance mutations, although the dose required for inhibition increases. These observations support the conclusion that suppression occurs during translation.