Evolutionary potential of the Escherichia coli antimutator Δ nudJ is reduced via altered mutational spectrum

The rate of spontaneous mutation is a key factor in determining the capacity of a population to adapt to a novel environment, for example a bacterial population exposed to antibiotics. Genetic and environmental factors controlling the mutation rate commonly also cause shifts in the relative rates of different mutational classes, i.e. the spectrum of spontaneous mutations. When the mutational spectrum is altered, the relatively enriched and depleted mutations may differ in their fitness effects. Here we aim to explore how a reduced mutation rate and altered mutational spectrum can contribute to adaptation in Escherichia coli . We measure mutation rates across a set of Nudix hydrolase deletants, finding multiple strains with an antimutator phenotype. We focus on the antimutator Δ nudJ which can cause a 6-fold mutation rate reduction relative to the wildtype with an altered mutational spectrum. Not only does nudJ deletion reduce the probability of antibiotic resistance arising but, in the case of rifampicin, the accessible resistance mutations under this altered mutation spectrum have greater fitness costs. While this effect is, so far, specific to this drug, it opens up the possibility of reducing the likelihood of resistance mutations establishing through simultaneous modification of mutation rate and spectrum. The identification and characterisation of antimutator alleles such as Δ nudJ provides potential targets for ‘antievolution drugs’ which could be applied during antibiotic treatment to inhibit NudJ activity. Such an approach could suppress spontaneous resistance evolution both through fewer resistance mutations and by limiting access to the fittest mutations.