Identification of base mismatches recognized by the heteroduplex-DNA-repair system of Streptococcus pneumoniae

The susceptibility to repair of particular base mismatches by the hex system of Streptococcus pneumoniae was examined by comparison of the nucleotide sequence of the wild-type and eight mutant alleles of the malM gene. A detailed restriction map was constructed for pLS70, and the nucleotide sequence was determined for its 3475 bp chromosomal insert, which contains the entire malM gene (encoding amylomaltase), portions of malX and malP (encoding a membrane protein and a phosphorylase, respectively) and a control region. Transition mismatches were highly susceptible to repair; transversion mismatches, much less so. A mismatch caused by a single-nucleotide deletion was reparable, but mismatches with longer deletions were not. The hex system also reduced spontaneous reversion of mutations corresponding to transitions. It is suggested that recognition of donor or nascent DNA strands by the hex system depends on single-strand breaks in the target strand, and that the role of DNA methylation in mismatch repair of Escherichia coli can be accommodated to this model.