NHEJ protects mycobacteria in stationary phase against the harmful effects of desiccation.
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Pitcher RS, Green AJ, Brzostek A, Korycka-Machala M, Dziadek J, Doherty AJ
NHEJ protects mycobacteria in stationary phase against the harmful effects of desiccation.
DNA Repair (Amst). 2007 Sep 1;6(9):1271-6. Epub 2007 Mar 13.
- PubMed ID
- 17360246 [ View in PubMed]
- Abstract
The physiological role of the non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ) pathway in the repair of DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) was examined in Mycobacterium smegmatis using DNA repair mutants (DeltarecA, Deltaku, DeltaligD, Deltaku/ligD, DeltarecA/ku/ligD). Wild-type and mutant strains were exposed to a range of doses of ionizing radiation at specific points in their life-cycle. NHEJ-mutant strains (Deltaku, DeltaligD, Deltaku/ligD) were significantly more sensitive to ionizing radiation (IR) during stationary phase than wild-type M. smegmatis. However, there was little difference in IR sensitivity between NHEJ-mutant and wild-type strains in logarithmic phase. Similarly, NHEJ-mutant strains were more sensitive to prolonged desiccation than wild-type M. smegmatis. A DeltarecA mutant strain was more sensitive to desiccation and IR during both stationary and especially in logarithmic phase, compared to wild-type strain, but it was significantly less sensitive to IR than the DeltarecA/ku/ligD triple mutant during stationary phase. These data suggest that NHEJ and homologous recombination are the preferred DSB repair pathways employed by M. smegmatis during stationary and logarithmic phases, respectively.