A strain of Yersinia pestis with a mutator phenotype from the Republic of Georgia

Abstract

We describe here a strain of Yersinia pestis, G1670A, which exhibits a baseline mutation rate elevated 250-fold over wild-type Y. pestis. The responsible mutation, a C to T substitution in the mutS gene, results in the transition of a highly conserved leucine at position 689 to arginine (mutS(L689R)). When the MutSL689R protein of G1670A was expressed in a ΔmutS derivative of Y. pestis strain EV76, mutation rates observed were equivalent to those observed in G1670A, consistent with a causal association between the mutS mutation and the mutator phenotype. The observation of a mutator allele in Yersinia pestis has potential implications for the study of evolution of this and other especially dangerous pathogens. © 2013 Federation of European Microbiological Societies. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.