Mutagenesis inEscherichia coli

SUMMARY A system has been developed for the study of reversion of an amber mutation responsible for a deficiency in DNA synthesis in T4 phage E51. When complexed with bacteria able to suppress the amber mutation the induced mutation rate per phage genome per rad is When complexed with bacteria unable to suppress the amber mutation (and being thus unable to synthesize phage DNA) the induced mutation rate is at least 14 times lower indicating that DNA synthesis is necessary for the production of the majority of functional reversions at the amber site. The induced mutation rate in suppressor-containing bacteria is independent of multiplicity of infection between 0·2 and 5, suggesting that recombination immediately after irradiation between phage genomes is unlikely to be a requirement for the mutation process.