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SHORT REPORT

When Coupled to Natural Transformation in Acinetobacter sp. Strain ADP1, PCR Mutagenesis Is Made Less Random by Mismatch Repair

Alison Buchan^1, and L. Nicholas Ornston^*

Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut

Received 29 March 2005/ Accepted 23 June 2005

Random PCR mutagenesis is a powerful tool for structure-function analysis of targeted proteins, especially when coupled with DNA integration through natural transformation followed by selection for loss of function. The technique has been applied successfully to structure-function analysis of transcriptional regulators, enzymes, and transporters in Acinetobacter sp. strain ADP1. However, the mismatch repair system prevents the full spectrum of nucleotide substitutions that may be selected at the level of protein function from being recovered. This barrier may be overcome by introducing PCR-mutagenized genes into strains in which the corresponding genes have been deleted.

Supplemental material for this article may be found at http://aem.asm.org/.

Present address: Department of Microbiology, M409 Walters Life Sciences, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996.