What is it about?
Mutations occur when cells are stressed, because stress responses activate mutation pathways. This paper shows that a small RNA molecule in E. coli bacteria promotes mutagenesis by opposing one stress response, which allows another stress response to turn on and promote mutation formation. The results show that a small RNA can promote mutagenesis indirectly by ameliorating a stress that would otherwise hyper-induce one stress response at the expense of another. The results also show stress response transcription-factor competition.
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Why is it important?
Mutations in genes cause evolution of antibiotic resistance in bacteria, resistance to anti-fungal drugs, and drive cancer formation and resistance to therapies, and evolution, generally.
Perspectives
This paper addresses how mutations occur, with the intent of creating drugs to slow or stop formation of mutations that fuel antibiotic resistance, anti-pathogen drug resistance, and cancer development and chemotherapy resistance. The work also illuminates the mechanisms that accelerate and allow evolution at the molecular level.
Prof. Susan M Rosenberg
Baylor College of Medicine
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: The Small RNA GcvB Promotes Mutagenic Break Repair by Opposing the Membrane Stress Response, Journal of Bacteriology, October 2016, ASM Journals,
DOI: 10.1128/jb.00555-16.
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