A gene responsible for Ozone sensitivity (ozrB) in chromosome of Escherichia coli B. MQ 1844

An ozone-sensitive mutant of Escherichia coli strain B, MQ 1844 is described. Its properties, including high sensitivity to ozone and radiation, inducible filamentation, extensive DNA degradation and impaired DNA synthesis following ozonation, are attributable to a mutation in ozrB, a gene which is cotransducible with malB. Based on differences in phenotypic expression as well as on the particular location of this gene on the bacterial chromosome, ozrB appears as distinct from the other ozone-or radiation-sensitivity genes previously described.