New indicator Escherichia coli strain for rapid and accurate detection of supF mutations

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:sec> <jats:title>Background</jats:title> <jats:p>The <jats:italic>supF</jats:italic> gene of <jats:italic>Escherichia coli</jats:italic> is useful for forward mutation analysis in bacterial and mammalian cells used in mutagenesis and DNA repair studies. Indicator <jats:italic>E. coli</jats:italic> strains, such as KS40/pOF105, have been used to analyze <jats:italic>supF</jats:italic> mutations. However, KS40/pOF105 is not enough to select <jats:italic>supF</jats:italic> mutants on nutrient-rich agar plates. Therefore, in this study, a new indicator <jats:italic>E. coli</jats:italic> strain for rapid and accurate detection of <jats:italic>supF</jats:italic> mutations was developed.</jats:p> </jats:sec><jats:sec> <jats:title>Results</jats:title> <jats:p>The <jats:italic>gyrA</jats:italic> and <jats:italic>rpsL</jats:italic> genes with an amber mutation were integrated into the chromosomal DNA of <jats:italic>E. coli</jats:italic> KS40 to produce a new indicator strain, RF01. RF01 cells transformed by the wild-type <jats:italic>supF</jats:italic> gene were sensitive to nalidixic acid and streptomycin on LB agar plates. <jats:italic>supF</jats:italic> mutant frequencies and mutation spectra in RF01 were similar to those in KS40/pOF105. In addition, some mutations in <jats:italic>supF</jats:italic> were only detected in RF01.</jats:p> </jats:sec><jats:sec> <jats:title>Conclusion</jats:title> <jats:p>RF01 is a new and useful indicator <jats:italic>E. coli</jats:italic> strain for analyzing <jats:italic>supF</jats:italic> mutations.</jats:p> </jats:sec>