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Appl Environ Microbiol, May 1998, p. 1958-1962, Vol. 64, No. 5
0099-2240/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Small, Acid-Soluble Spore Proteins of the alpha /beta Type Do Not Protect the DNA in Bacillus subtilis Spores against Base Alkylation

Barbara Setlow,1 Kes J. Tautvydas,2 and Peter Setlow1,*

Department of Biochemistry, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, Connecticut 06032,1 and 3M/Life Sciences Sector Laboratory, 3M Center, St. Paul, Minnesota 55144-10002

Received 15 December 1997/Accepted 10 February 1998

Ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS) killed wild-type Bacillus subtilis spores as rapidly as spores lacking small, acid-soluble proteins (SASP) of the alpha /beta type (alpha -beta - spores), and 20% of the survivors had obvious mutations. A recA mutation increased the EMS sensitivity of wild-type and alpha -beta - spores similarly but reduced their mutagenesis; EMS treatment of dormant spores also resulted in the induction of RecA synthesis during spore germination. EMS generated similar levels of alkylated bases in wild-type and alpha -beta - spore DNAs, in purified DNA, or in DNA saturated with alpha /beta -type SASP. Ethylene oxide (EtO) also generated similar levels of base alkylation in wild-type and alpha -beta - spore DNAs. These data indicate that EMS and EtO kill spores at least in part by DNA damage but that alpha /beta -type SASP, which protect DNA against many types of damage, do not protect spore DNA from base alkylation.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Biochemistry, MC-3305, University of Connecticut Health Center, 263 Farmington Ave., Farmington, CT 06032. Phone: (860) 679-2607. Fax: (860) 679-3408. E-mail: setlow{at}sun.uchc.edu.

Appl Environ Microbiol, May 1998, p. 1958-1962, Vol. 64, No. 5
0099-2240/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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Copyright © 1998 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.