Stress responses and genetic variation in bacteria.

Abstract excerpt

Under stressful conditions mechanisms that increase genetic variation can bestow a selective advantage. Bacteria have several stress responses that provide ways in which mutation rates can be increased. These include the SOS response, the general stress response, the heat-shock response, and the stringent response, all of which impact the regulation of error-prone polymerases. Adaptive mutation appears to be...

Topics

• Adaptation, Biological
• Bacteria
• Bacterial Proteins
• DNA-Directed DNA Polymerase
• Genes, Bacterial
• Lac Operon
• Mutation
• Recombination, Genetic
• SOS Response, Genetics