CONJUGATION IS NOT REQUIRED FOR ADAPTIVE REVERSION OF AN EPISOMAL FRAMESHIFT MUTATION IN ESCHERICHIA-COLI

Adaptive reversion of a lac allele on an F' episome in a strain of Esc herichia coli is dependent on the RecA-BCD pathway for recombination a nd is enhanced by conjugal functions. However,, conjugation, i,e., tra nsfer of the episome, whether between distinct populations of cells or between newly divided siblings, does not contribute to the mutational process.