Mutationshowers on the DNA landscape.

DR. KATHLEEN HILL
Genome organization and integrity

Mutations in the News:

Wang J, Gonzalez KD, Scaringe WA, Tsai K, Liu N, Gu D, Li W, Hill KA, & Sommer SS. (2007). From the Cover: Evidence for Mutation Showers. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A.;104(20):8403-8.

A recent collaborative effort led to the discovery evidence for “mutation showers” Spontaneous multiple mutations show proximal spacing and likely occur in rapid succession in a single cell cycle. In our most recent report, we tested a hypothesis that multiple mutations observed in the lacI mutation target sometimes occur in the context of multiple mutations spanning multiple kilobases. This phenomenon we termed “mutation showers”. Indeed we found evidence for mutation showers in the form of multiple clusters of multiple mutations, with approximately 30 kilobases of the DNA landscape affected by a single “mutation shower”. The most interesting corollaries of the evidence for mutation showers are the potential for “cancer in an instant” and an evolutionary function for "introns as sponges to reduce the deleterious impact of mutation showers."

Link to article in PNAS
Link to a commentary by John Drake

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