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Inducible repair of oxidative DNA damage in Escherichia coli

Nature volume 304, pages 466–468 (1983)Cite this article

Abstract

Hydrogen peroxide is lethal to many cell types, including the bacterium Escherichia coli1,2. Peroxides yield transient radical species that can damage DNA3 and cause mutations4. Such partially reduced oxygen species are occasionally released during cellular respiration2 and are generated by lethal and mutagenic ionizing radiation5. Because cells live in an environment where the threat of oxidative DNA damage is continual, cellular mechanisms may have evolved to avoid and repair this damage. Enzymes are known which evidently perform these functions2,3. We report here that resistance to hydrogen peroxide toxicity can be induced in E. coli, that this novel induction is specific and occurs, in part, at the level of DNA repair.

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Author information

Author notes

  1. James Halbrook

    Present address: Department of Biological Chemistry, University of California School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California, 90024, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Imperial Cancer Research Fund, Mill Hill Laboratories, Burtonhole Lane, London, NW7 1AD, UK

    Bruce Demple

  2. Department of Biochemistry, University of California, Berkeley, California, 94720, USA

    James Halbrook

Authors
  1. Bruce Demple
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  2. James Halbrook
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Demple, B., Halbrook, J. Inducible repair of oxidative DNA damage in Escherichia coli. Nature 304, 466–468 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1038/304466a0

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