DNA damage-induced replication fork regression and processing in Escherichia coli

DNA lesions that block replication are a primary cause of rearrangements, mutations, and lethality in all cells. After ultraviolet (UV)-induced DNA damage in Escherichia coli, replication recovery requires RecA and several other recF pathway proteins. To characterize the mechanism by which lesion-blocked replication forks recover, we used two-dimensional agarose gel electrophoresis to show that replication-blocking DNA lesions induce a transient reversal of the replication fork in vivo. The reversed replication fork intermediate is stabilized by RecA and RecF and is degraded by the RecQ-RecJ helicase-nuclease when these proteins are absent. We propose that fork regression allows repair enzymes to gain access to the replication-blocking lesion, allowing processive replication to resume once the blocking lesion is removed.