Next-nucleotide effects in mutations driven by DNA precursor pool imbalances at the aprt locus of Chinese hamster ovary cells.

Imbalances of the intracellular pools of the precursors of DNA synthesis, the deoxyribonucleoside triphosphates, produce marked shifts in the spectrum of mutations at the aprt locus of Chinese hamster ovary cells. Mutations induced by excess dTTP or dCTP are dominated by misincorporation of the nucleotide in excess, as determined by sequence analysis of cloned mutant genes. The shift in spectrum is also apparently influenced by the nucleotides surrounding the one altered--those 3' to the nucleotide misincorporated being present in excess in most of the mutant genes characterized. Since next-nucleotide effects are a property of DNA polymerases with "proofreading" activities, our data suggest that this function is part of the mammalian DNA replication complex.