Double-strand break generation under deoxyribonucleotide starvation in Escherichia coli

Stalled replication forks produced by three different ways of depleting deoxynucleoside triphosphate showed different capacities to undergo replication fork reversal. This reaction occurred at the stalled forks generated by hydroxyurea treatment, was impaired under thermal inactivation of ribonucleoside reductase, and did not take place under thymine starvation.