Mycolicibacterium (Mycobacterium) smegmatis DNA repair mutants and their sensitivity to oxidative damage.

The mycobacterial non-homologous end-joining pathway (NHEJ) involved in the repair of double strand breaks (DSBs) engages the multifunctional ligase/primase/nuclease LigD and DNA bridging protein Ku. The other ATP-dependent ligases LigC and AEP-primase PrimC were considered as a backup in this process. More recently, the engagement of LigD, LigC and PrimC was also postulated in the base excision repair (BER) process in mycobacteria. In this project, we have evaluated the significance of the above proteins concerning the frequency and profile of mutations accumulated in wild type and mutant M. smegmatis strains growing in the presence of oxidizing damaging agents.Scope: laboratory strain and its mutants generated by allelic exchange