Evidence for and against the involvement of the known nucleic acid polymerases in UV mutagenesis in Escherichia coli is reviewed. There is no evidence that rules out the participation of any of them when they are present but only one, the α subunit of DNA polymerase III holoenzyme (polC gene product) has been shown to be essential. It is argued that the PolC protein that functions in UV mutagenesis may not be immediately recognizable as one of the normal cellular polymerases or polymerase complexes.Key words: polymerases, ultraviolet light, mutagenesis, DNA repair, misincorporation.
Reduction of postreplication DNA repair in two Escherichia coli mutants with temperature-sensitive polymerase III activity: implications for the postreplication repair pathway.