Mutagenic effects of ultraviolet radiation and trimethyl psoralen in mycoplasma toward a minimal genome.

Mycoplasmas, autonomously culturable bacteria with the smallest genome, are an important organism to understand the minimal form of life. Mutagenesis using mutagens is a useful methodology for understanding the essential regions of genomic information. Ultraviolet light (UV) and trimethyl psoralen (TMP) are mutagens known to induce various mutations; the latter is reported to specifically induce deletions in nematodes.