Mutation frequencies vary significantly along nucleotide sequences such that mutations often concentrate at certain positions called hotspots. Mutation hotspots in DNA reflect intrinsic properties of the mutation process, such as sequence specificity, that manifests itself at the level of interaction between mutagens, DNA, and the action of the repair and replication machineries. The nucleotide sequence context of mutational hotspots is a fingerprint of interactions between DNA and repair/replication/modification enzymes, and the analysis of hotspot context provides evidence of such interactions. The hotspots might also reflect structural and functional features of the respective DNA sequences and provide information about natural selection. We discuss analysis of 8-oxoguanineinduced mutations in pro-and eukaryotic genes, polymorphic positions in the human mitochondrial DNA and mutations in the HIV-1 retrovirus. Comparative analysis of 8oxoguanine-induced mutations and spontaneous mutation spectra suggested that a substantial fraction of spontaneous A•T→C•T mutations is caused by 8-oxoGTP in nucleotide pools. In the case of human mitochondrial DNA, significant differences between molecular mechanisms of mutations in hypervariable segments and coding part of DNA were detected. Analysis of mutations in the HIV-1 retrovirus suggested a complex interplay between molecular mechanisms of mutagenesis and natural selection.
The base analog 6-N-hydroxylaminopurine (HAP) induces bidirectional GC → AT and AT → GC transitions that are enhanced in DNA polymerase ϵ and δ 3′ → 5′ exonuclease-deficient yeast mutants, pol2-4 and pol3-01, respectively. We have constructed a set of isogenic strains to determine whether the DNA polymerases δ and ϵ contribute equally to proofreading of replication errors provoked by HAP during leading and lagging strand DNA synthesis. Site-specific GC → AT and AT → GC transitions in a Pol→, pol2-4 or pol3-01 genetic background were scored as reversions of ura3 missense alleles. At each site, reversion was increased in only one proofreading-deficient mutant, either pol2-4 or pol3-01, depending on the DNA strand in which HAP incorporation presumably occurred. Measurement of the HAP-induced reversion frequency of the ura3 alleles placed into chromosome III near to the defined active replication origin ARS306 in two orientations indicated that DNA polymerases ϵ and δ correct HAP-induced DNA replication errors on opposite DNA strands.
The base analogue 6-N-hydroxylaminopurine (HAP) is a potent mutagen in a variety of prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms. Mutations in the yeast ham1 gene render the cells hypersensitive to the mutagenic effect of HAP. We have found that this gene has homologues in a variety of organisms from bacteria to man. We have overexpressed yeast Ham1p in E. coli. We demonstrate that under conditions when this protein constitutes approximately 30% of cellular protein, the host strain is protected both from toxic and mutagenic effects of HAP. This result indicates that sole Ham1p activity might be sufficient for destruction of HAP or its metabolites in bacterial cells.
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