Mismatch repair at stop codons is directed independent of GATC methylation on the Escherichia coli chromosome

The mismatch repair system (MMR) corrects replication errors that escape proofreading. Previous studies on extrachromosomal DNA in Escherichia coli suggested that MMR uses hemimethylated GATC sites to identify the newly synthesized strand. In this work we asked how the distance of GATC sites and their methylation status affect the occurrence of single base substitutions on the E. coli chromosome. As a reporter system we used a lacZ gene containing an early TAA stop codon. We found that occurrence of point mutations at this stop codon is unaffected by GATC sites located more than 115 base pairs away. However, a GATC site located about 50 base pairs away resulted in a decreased mutation rate. This effect was independent of Dam methylation. The reversion rate of the stop codon increased only slightly in dam mutants compared to mutL and mutS mutants. We suggest that unlike on extrachromosomal DNA, GATC methylation is not the only strand discrimination signal for MMR on the E. coli chromosome.