Mutations by near-ultraviolet radiation in Escherichia coli strains lacking superoxide dismutase

In wild-type Escherichia coli, near-ultraviolet radiation (NUV) was only weakly mutagenic. However, in an allelic mutant strain (sodA sodB) that lacks both Mn- and Fe-superoxide dismutase (SOD) and assumed to have excess superoxide anion (O2-), NUV induced a 9-fold increase in mutation above the level that normally occurs in this double mutant. When a sodA sodB double mutant contained a plasmid carrying katG+ (excess HP-I catalase), mutation by NUV was reduced to wild-type (sodA+ sodB+) levels. Also, in the sodA sodB xthA triple mutant, which lacks exonuclease III (exoIII) in addition to SOD, the mutational frequency by NUV was reduced to wild-type levels. This synergistic action of NUV and O2- suggested that pre-mutational lesions occur, with exoIII converting these lesions to stable mutants. Exposure to H2O2 induced a 2.8-fold increase in mutations in sodA sodB double mutants, but was reduced to control levels when a plasmid carrying katG+ was introduced. These results suggest that NUV, in addition to its other effects on cells, increases mutations indirectly by increasing the flux of OH. radicals, possibly by generating excess H2O2.