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Antibiotic Resistance In Bacillus Subtilis As Affected By Transcriptional Derepression And The Stringent Response, Brandon Eisinger, Ronald E. Yasbin, Eduardo A. Robleto

Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP)

Bacterial cells under conditions of starvation or prolonged non-lethal selective pressures accumulate mutations in highly transcribed genes. This process is part of cellular programs to increase genetic diversity in conditions of stress, also known as stationary phase or stress-induced mutagenesis. This experiment investigated mutation frequencies for antibiotic resistance as affected by the stringent response. The stringent response is a global cellular process that initiates at the cessation of growth and mediates changes in gene expression that repress synthesis of ribosome components. We used Bacillus subtilis strains that differ in RelA proficiency. The relA gene controls the synthesis of (p)ppGpp, the …