Skip to content
Login Register

#5-bromouracil

2 public questions tagged with this topic.

Mutation and Mutagenesis

5-bromouracil mainly causes

Incorporated 5-bromouracil normally mimics thymine pairing with adenine via keto tautomer during first replication. However bromine substitution stabilizes rare enol tautomer that presents hydrogen bonding pattern complementary to guanine, allowing G:BrU pairing. During next round guanine templates cytosine, converting original A:T base pair where BrU replaced thymine into G:C pair. Net outcome is A:T→G:C transition opposite to spontaneous deamination direction, explaining bromouracil's specific mutational spectrum exploited to map gene fine structure in rII locus experiments. This principle i

Ref: Griffiths et al., Introduction to Genetic Analysis, 12th ed., Chapter 14: Bromouracil Induced AT to GC Transition

View Details
Mutation and Mutagenesis

5-bromouracil is an analog of

5-bromouracil is synthetic halogenated pyrimidine analog structurally similar to thymine where bromine atom replaces methyl group at C5 position, preserving Watson-Crick face that pairs with adenine in keto form. Size and electronegativity allow efficient incorporation by DNA polymerases opposite adenine during S-phase when thymine is substituted. Once embedded, bromine increases tendency to tautomerize to enol form that pairs with guanine, providing mutagenic potential exploited historically for inducing directed transitions in bacteriophage and bacterial genetics. This principle illustrates

Ref: Lodish et al., Molecular Cell Biology, 9th ed., Chapter 9: 5-Bromouracil Thymine Analog Structure

View Details