DspoT suppressor mutations in E. coli BW25113

ppGpp is an alarmone known to trigger the stringent response in E. coli. ppGpp is synthesized by RelA and SpoT, the latter one also having ppGpp hydrolase activity. DspoT mutants have long been considered non viable since ppGpp accumulation in the cells is toxic and spoT is the only ppGpp hydrolase described in E. coli. Here we present the production of DspoT mutants in E. coli BW215113. These mutants accumulate suppressor mutations that compensate the absence of SpoT function. We have sequenced the whole genome of some of these DspoT mutants to find where the suppresor mutations are located.