Creation and Analysis of a mutL Knockout Strain of Vibrio Cholerae; Conference paper

摘要

Many species of pathogenic bacteria have been shown to contain some form of a DNA mismatch repair system. The methyl-directed DNA mismatch repair genes (such as mutS, mutL, and mutH in E. coli) have been found to be responsible for the reduction of incorporation of foreign DNA into the E. coli genome (Townsend, 2003). The absence, or disruption, of these genes has been shown to increase the rate of mutations (Taddel, 1997). No studies have previously been performed on mutators in Vibrio cholerae. In this study, we report the development of a mutL deletion mutant of Vibrio cholerae. This knockout strain can be used to determine the function of mutL in V. cholerae. Furthermore, if the knockout produces a hypervariable strain of V. cholerae, that strain could be used to study natural mutations in greater detail, and at a much faster rate. The elucidation of these mutations in V. cholerae could change the way targets for detection, identification or even vaccines are chosen.