A mutagen, glycidyl methacrylate (GMA), discovered by us a few years ago has been used to investigate the mutation mechanism of drug-resistance genes of plasmid pBR322. The results indicated that GMA binds strongly to pBR322 DNA, and this binding decreased the relative transformation efficiency using E. coli HB1O1 strain on LB plates containing ampicillin (Ap) or tetracycline (Tc). The mutants, ARpTSc, AspTRc and ASpTSc, have been isolated and their drug-resistance proved to be heritable.
Ampicillin Resistance Epoxy Compounds