Accumulation of large non-circular forms of the chromosome in recombination-defective mutants of Escherichia coli

摘要

BackgroundDouble-strand breakage of chromosomal DNA is obviously a serious threat to cells because various activities of the chromosome depend on its integrity. However, recent experiments suggest that such breakage may occur frequently during "normal" growth in various organisms – from bacteria through vertebrates, possibly through arrest of a replication fork at some endogenous DNA damage.