Bacterial phenotypic heterogeneity in DNA repair and mutagenesis

Genetically identical cells frequently exhibit striking heterogeneity in various phenotypic traits such as their morphology, growth rate, or gene expression. Such non-genetic diversity can help clonal bacterial populations overcome transient environmental challenges without compromising genome stabi...

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Main Authors: Vincent, MS, Uphoff, S
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: Portland Press 2020
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author Vincent, MS
Uphoff, S
author_facet Vincent, MS
Uphoff, S
author_sort Vincent, MS
collection OXFORD
description Genetically identical cells frequently exhibit striking heterogeneity in various phenotypic traits such as their morphology, growth rate, or gene expression. Such non-genetic diversity can help clonal bacterial populations overcome transient environmental challenges without compromising genome stability, while genetic change is required for long-term heritable adaptation. At the heart of the balance between genome stability and plasticity are the DNA repair pathways that shield DNA from lesions and reverse errors arising from the imperfect DNA replication machinery. In principle, phenotypic heterogeneity in the expression and activity of DNA repair pathways can modulate mutation rates in single cells and thus be a source of heritable genetic diversity, effectively reversing the genotype-to-phenotype dogma. Long-standing evidence for mutation rate heterogeneity comes from genetics experiments on cell populations, which are now complemented by direct measurements on individual living cells. These measurements are increasingly performed using fluorescence microscopy with a temporal and spatial resolution that enables localising, tracking, and counting proteins with single-molecule sensitivity. In this review, we discuss which molecular processes lead to phenotypic heterogeneity in DNA repair and consider the potential consequences on genome stability and dynamics in bacteria. We further inspect these concepts in the context of DNA damage and mutation induced by antibiotics.
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spelling oxford-uuid:bfe273b9-ddd4-4d86-a44d-69538970f0982022-03-27T05:50:55ZBacterial phenotypic heterogeneity in DNA repair and mutagenesis Journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:bfe273b9-ddd4-4d86-a44d-69538970f098EnglishSymplectic ElementsPortland Press2020Vincent, MSUphoff, SGenetically identical cells frequently exhibit striking heterogeneity in various phenotypic traits such as their morphology, growth rate, or gene expression. Such non-genetic diversity can help clonal bacterial populations overcome transient environmental challenges without compromising genome stability, while genetic change is required for long-term heritable adaptation. At the heart of the balance between genome stability and plasticity are the DNA repair pathways that shield DNA from lesions and reverse errors arising from the imperfect DNA replication machinery. In principle, phenotypic heterogeneity in the expression and activity of DNA repair pathways can modulate mutation rates in single cells and thus be a source of heritable genetic diversity, effectively reversing the genotype-to-phenotype dogma. Long-standing evidence for mutation rate heterogeneity comes from genetics experiments on cell populations, which are now complemented by direct measurements on individual living cells. These measurements are increasingly performed using fluorescence microscopy with a temporal and spatial resolution that enables localising, tracking, and counting proteins with single-molecule sensitivity. In this review, we discuss which molecular processes lead to phenotypic heterogeneity in DNA repair and consider the potential consequences on genome stability and dynamics in bacteria. We further inspect these concepts in the context of DNA damage and mutation induced by antibiotics.
spellingShingle Vincent, MS
Uphoff, S
Bacterial phenotypic heterogeneity in DNA repair and mutagenesis
title Bacterial phenotypic heterogeneity in DNA repair and mutagenesis
title_full Bacterial phenotypic heterogeneity in DNA repair and mutagenesis
title_fullStr Bacterial phenotypic heterogeneity in DNA repair and mutagenesis
title_full_unstemmed Bacterial phenotypic heterogeneity in DNA repair and mutagenesis
title_short Bacterial phenotypic heterogeneity in DNA repair and mutagenesis
title_sort bacterial phenotypic heterogeneity in dna repair and mutagenesis
work_keys_str_mv AT vincentms bacterialphenotypicheterogeneityindnarepairandmutagenesis
AT uphoffs bacterialphenotypicheterogeneityindnarepairandmutagenesis