Extreme C-to-A Hypermutation at a Site of Cytosine-N4 Methylation

ABSTRACT Methylation of cytosine in DNA at position C5 increases the rate of C→T mutations in bacteria and eukaryotes. Methylation at the N4 position, employed by some restriction-modification systems, is not known to increase the mutation rate. Here I report that a Salmonella enterica Type III restriction-modification system that includes a cytosine-N4 methyltransferase causes an enormous increase in the rate of mutation of the methylated cytosines, which occur at the overlined C in the motif . Mutations consist mainly of C→A transversions, the rate of which is increased ~500-fold by the restriction-modification system. The rate of C→T transitions is also increased, and somewhat exceeds that at C5-methylated cytosines in Dcm sites. Two other Salmonella N4 methyltransferases investigated do not have such dramatic effects, although in one case there is a modest increase in C→A mutations along with an increase in C→T mutations. Sensitivity of the C→A rate to orientation with respect to both DNA replication and transcription is higher at hypermutable sites than at other cytosines, suggesting a fundamental mechanistic difference between hypermutation and ordinary mutation. IMPORTANCE Mutation produces the raw material for adaptive evolution, but also imposes a burden because most mutations are deleterious. The rate of mutation at a particular site is affected by a variety of factors. In both prokaryotes and eukaryotes, methylation of C at the C5 position, a naturally-occurring DNA modification, greatly increases the rate of C→T mutation. A distinct C modification that occurs in prokaryotes, methylation at N4, is not known to increase mutation rate. Here I report that a bacterial restriction-modification system, found in some Salmonella , increases the rate of C→A mutation by a factor of 500 at sites that it methylates at N4. This rate increase is much greater than that caused by C5 methylation. Although fewer than one in 1600 positions analyzed are methylation sites, over 10% of all mutations occur at these sites. Like other examples of extremely high mutation rate, whether naturally-occurring or the result of laboratory mutation, this phenomenon may shed light on the mechanism of mutation in general.