Study of MFD in Bacillus subtilis

The frequency of UV-induced extragenic suppressor reversions to leucine independence in B. subtilis carrying a leu8 mutation decreased when irradiated cells were temporarily incubated in medium deprived of nitrogen sources. This mutation frequency decline (MFD) was inhibited by acriflavine and was poorly expressed in a uvr1 mutant. Consequently, MFD may be considered as the manifestation of an anti-mutagenic activity of excision repair. MFD was decelerated and even vanished in cells subjected to prolonged starvation of nitrogen sources before irradiation. MFD was accelerated in bacteria that were first irradiated and incubated in nutritional medium for at least 30 min. The stimulation of MFD by UV exposure was observed only in the uvr+ strain and depended on protein synthesis after irradiation. It is assumed that different rates of MFD in cells of various pre-radiation histories reflect different levels of the excision-repair activity inherent in these cells.