Spectrum of glycidyl methacrylate-induced mutation in plasmid-Escherichia coli system

In order to characterize the spectrum of mutation induced by glycidyl methacrylate (GMA), the plasmid pBR322 was modified with this mutagen in vitro, transfected into appropriate Escherichia coli host HB101. The mutants were then screened and defined by DNA sequencing. Sequence analysis reveals that GMA induces two classes of mutations: deletion of the mono-, di- or tetra-base or the insertion of mono- or di-base. Both types of mutations, with about 10% frequency, occur predominantly at C-G runs and at 5'-CNCCN-3' sequence, which are hotspots for GMA damage and may cause frameshift mutation.