Relationship between repair processes and mutation induction in bacteria

A summary is given of the main repair and replication-associated processes that can influence the induction of mutations by various mutagens in bacteria. These include both constitutive and induced, error-free and error-prone systems. The mutation yield from a treatment with a mutagen can be markedly affected by which of these systems is operating in a given bacterial species or strain. The effect of these systems on mutation induction by ultraviolet light, monofunctional alkylating agents, base analogues, and frameshift mutagens is discussed in some detail. The bearing of these studies on the practical problems of estimating hazards is briefly considered.