Function and biochemical characterization of RecJ in Deinococcus radiodurans

Precise CRISPR/Cpf1 genome editing system in the Deinococcus radiodurans with superior DNA repair mechanisms

Deinococcus radiodurans, with its high homologous recombination (HR) efficiency of double-stranded DNA breaks (DSBs), is a model organism for studying genome stability maintenance and an attractive microbe for industrial applications. Here, we developed an efficient CRISPR/Cpf1 genome editing system in D. radiodurans by evaluating and optimizing double-plasmid strategies and four Cas effector proteins from various organisms, which can precisely introduce different types of template-dependent mutagenesis without off-target toxicity. Furthermore, the role of DNA repair genes in determining editing efficiency in D. radiodurans was evaluated by introducing the CRISPR/Cpf1 system into 13 mutant strains lacking various DNA damage response and repair factors. In addition to the crucial role of RecA-dependent HR required for CRISPR/Cpf1 editing, D. radiodurans showed higher editing efficiency when lacking DdrB, the single-stranded DNA annealing (SSA) protein involved in the RecA-independent DSB repair pathway. This suggests a possible competition between HR and SSA pathways in the CRISPR editing of D. radiodurans. Moreover, off-target effects were observed during the genome editing of the pprI knockout strain, a master DNA damage response gene in Deinococcus species, which suggested that precise regulation of DNA damage response is critical for a high-fidelity genome editing system.

Antioxidant defense of Deinococcus radiodurans: how does it contribute to extreme radiation resistance?

PURPOSE

Deinococcus radiodurans is an extremely radioresistant bacterium characterized by D10 of 10 kGy, and able to grow luxuriantly under chronic ionizing radiation of 60 Gy/h. The aim of this article is to review the antioxidant system of D. radiodurans and its possible role in the unusual resistance of this bacterium to ionizing radiation.

CONCLUSIONS

The unusual radiation resistance of D. radiodurans has apparently evolved as a side effect of the adaptation of this extremophile to other damaging environmental factors, especially desiccation. The antioxidant proteins and low-molecular antioxidants (especially low-molecular weight Mn2+ complexes and carotenoids, in particular, deinoxanthin), as well as protein and non-protein regulators, are important for the antioxidant defense of this species. Antioxidant protection of proteins from radiation inactivation enables the repair of DNA damage caused by ionizing radiation.

Biochemical and functional characterization of a thermostable RecJ exonuclease from Thermococcus gammatolerans

RecJ is ubiquitous in bacteria and Archaea, and play an important role in DNA replication and repair. Currently, our understanding on biochemical function of archaeal RecJ is incomplete due to the limited reports. The genome of the hyperthermophilic and radioresistant euryarchaeon Thermococcus gammatolerans encodes one putative RecJ protein (Tga-RecJ). Herein, we report biochemical characteristics and catalytic mechanism of Tga-RecJ. Tga-RecJ can degrade ssDNA in the 5'-3' direction at high temperature as observed in Thermococcus kodakarensis RecJ and Pyrococcus furiosus RecJ, the two closest homologs of the enzyme. In contrasted to P. furiosus RecJ, Tga-RecJ lacks 3'-5' ssRNA exonuclease activity. Furthermore, maximum activity of Tga-RecJ is observed at 50 °C ~ 70 °C and pH 7.0-9.0 with Mn²⁺, and the enzyme is the most thermostable among the reported RecJ proteins. Additionally, the rates for hydrolyzing ssDNA by Tga-RecJ were estimated by kinetic analyses at 50 °C ~ 70 °C, thus revealing its activation energy (10.5 ± 0.6 kcal/mol), which is the first report on energy barrier for ssDNA degradation by RecJ. Mutational studies showed that the mutations of residues D36, D83, D105, H106, H107 and D166 in Tga-RecJ to alanine almost completely abolish its activity, thereby suggesting that these residues are essential for catalysis.

Biochemical characterization of a unique DNA polymerase A from the extreme radioresistant organism Deinococcus radiodurans

Deinococcus radiodurans survives extraordinary doses of ionizing radiation and desiccation that cause numerous DNA strand breaks. D. radiodurans DNA polymerase A (DrPolA) is essential for reassembling the shattered genome, while its biochemical property has not been fully demonstrated. In this study, we systematically examined the enzymatic activities of DrPolA and characterized its unique features. DrPolA contains an N-terminal nuclease domain (DrPolA-NTD) and a C-terminal Klenow fragment (KlenDr). Compared with the Klenow fragment of E. coli Pol I, KlenDr shows higher fidelity despite the lacking of 3'-5' exonuclease proofreading activity and prefers double-strand DNA rather than Primer-Template substrates. Apart from the well-annotated 5'-3' exonuclease and flap endonuclease activities, DrPolA-NTD displays approximately 140-fold higher gap endonuclease activity than its homolog in E. coli and Human FEN1. Its 5'-3' exonuclease activity on ssDNA, gap endonuclease, and Holliday junction cleavage activities are greatly enhanced by Mn²⁺. The DrPolA-NTD deficient strain shows increased sensitivity to UV and gamma-ray radiation. Collectively, our results reveal distinct biochemical characteristics of DrPolA during DNA degradation and re-synthesis, which provide new insight into the outstanding DNA repair capacity of D. radiodurans.

Coexistence of endonuclease and exonuclease activities in a novel RecJ from Bacillus cereus

BACKGROUND

All RecJ proteins are known to date only perform exonuclease activity. The present study reports that a novel RecJ protein obtained from Bacillus cereus isolated from marine sediments has both endonuclease and exonuclease activities.

METHODS

Analysis of the BcRecJ expression induction in E. coli BL21 revealed that the BcRecJ protein cleaved plasmids and genomic DNA in the host cell, and led to cell death and decreased the DNA content. Further, the BcRecJ protein had the ability to degrade supercoiled plasmid DNA into circular or linear forms in vitro. Meanwhile, the BcRecJ protein loaded with an S-modified guide facilitated plasmid linearization and reduced smear formation.

RESULTS

The results suggested that this novel BcRecJ protein was different from any reported RecJs and had a longer C-terminus. Testing the BcRecJ mutants indicated that the endonuclease activity was affected by two residues of BcRecJ (D561, E637) after testing the BcRecJ mutants.

CONCLUSION

The discovery of the type of protein is a new breakthrough for the RecJ proteins, which has both endonuclease and exonuclease activities.

RecJ from Bacillus halodurans possesses endonuclease activity at moderate temperature

RecJ homologs, which occur in virtually all prokaryotes and eukaryotes, play key roles in DNA damage repair and recombination. Current evidence shows that RecJ family proteins exhibit exonuclease activity, degrading single-stranded nucleic acids. Here, we report a novel RecJ isolated from Bacillus halodurans, which utilizes double-stranded DNA as a substrate and functions as an endonuclease. Bacillus halodurans RecJ (BhRecJ) cleaves supercoiled plasmids into open circular and linear forms. Besides the typical domains of DHH, DHHA1, and oligonucleotide-binding-fold, BhRecJ possesses a C-terminal domain with unknown function, which might form the core of the endonuclease activity. Using mutational analysis, we mapped several essential residues for BhRecJ endonuclease activity. Our findings suggest that BhRecJ may be involved in biological processes not typically associated with RecJ proteins.

Replication protein A complex in Thermococcus kodakarensis interacts with DNA polymerases and helps their effective strand synthesis

Replication protein A (RPA) is an essential component of DNA metabolic processes. RPA binds to single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) and interacts with multiple DNA-binding proteins. In this study, we showed that two DNA polymerases, PolB and PolD, from the hyperthermophilic archaeon Thermococcus kodakarensis interact directly with RPA in vitro. RPA was expected to play a role in resolving the secondary structure, which may stop the DNA synthesis reaction, in the template ssDNA. Our in vitro DNA synthesis assay showed that the pausing was resolved by RPA for both PolB and PolD. These results supported the fact that RPA interacts with DNA polymerases as a member of the replisome and is involved in the normal progression of DNA replication forks.

Conservation and diversity of radiation and oxidative stress resistance mechanisms in Deinococcus species

Deinococcus bacteria are famous for their extreme resistance to ionising radiation and other DNA damage- and oxidative stress-generating agents. More than a hundred genes have been reported to contribute to resistance to radiation, desiccation and/or oxidative stress in Deinococcus radiodurans. These encode proteins involved in DNA repair, oxidative stress defence, regulation and proteins of yet unknown function or with an extracytoplasmic location. Here, we analysed the conservation of radiation resistance-associated proteins in other radiation-resistant Deinococcus species. Strikingly, homologues of dozens of these proteins are absent in one or more Deinococcus species. For example, only a few Deinococcus-specific proteins and radiation resistance-associated regulatory proteins are present in each Deinococcus, notably the metallopeptidase/repressor pair IrrE/DdrO that controls the radiation/desiccation response regulon. Inversely, some Deinococcus species possess proteins that D. radiodurans lacks, including DNA repair proteins consisting of novel domain combinations, translesion polymerases, additional metalloregulators, redox-sensitive regulator SoxR and manganese-containing catalase. Moreover, the comparisons improved the characterisation of several proteins regarding important conserved residues, cellular location and possible protein–protein interactions. This comprehensive analysis indicates not only conservation but also large diversity in the molecular mechanisms involved in radiation resistance even within the Deinococcus genus.

Resistance to UV Irradiation Caused by Inactivation of nurA and herA Genes in Thermus thermophilus

NurA and HerA are thought to be essential proteins for DNA end resection in archaeal homologous recombination systems. Thermus thermophilus, an extremely thermophilic eubacterium, has proteins that exhibit significant sequence similarity to archaeal NurA and HerA. To unveil the cellular function of NurA and HerA in T. thermophilus, we performed phenotypic analysis of disruptant mutants of nurA and herA with or without DNA-damaging agents. The nurA and herA genes were not essential for survival, and their deletion had no effect on cell growth and genome integrity. Unexpectedly, these disruptants of T. thermophilus showed increased resistance to UV irradiation and mitomycin C treatment. Further, these disruptants and the wild type displayed no difference in sensitivity to oxidative stress and a DNA replication inhibitor. T. thermophilus NurA had nuclease activity, and HerA had ATPase. The overexpression of loss-of-function mutants of nurA and herA in the respective disruptants showed no complementation, suggesting their enzymatic activities were involved in the UV sensitivity. In addition, T. thermophilus NurA and HerA interacted with each other in vitro and in vivo, forming a complex with 2:6 stoichiometry. These results suggest that the NurA-HerA complex has an architecture similar to that of archaeal counterparts but that it impairs, rather than promotes, the repair of photoproducts and DNA cross-links in T. thermophilus cells. This cellular function is distinctly different from that of archaeal NurA and HerA.IMPORTANCE Many nucleases and helicases are engaged in homologous recombination-mediated DNA repair. Previous in vitro analyses in archaea indicated that NurA and HerA are the recombination-related nuclease and helicase. However, their cellular function had not been fully understood, especially in bacterial cells. In this study, we performed in vivo analyses to address the cellular function of nurA and herA in an extremely thermophilic bacterium, Thermus thermophilus As a result, T. thermophilus NurA and HerA exhibited an interfering effect on the repair of several instances of DNA damage in the cell, which is in contrast to the results in archaea. This finding will facilitate our understanding of the diverse cellular functions of the recombination-related nucleases and helicases.

The Cdc45/RecJ-like protein forms a complex with GINS and MCM, and is important for DNA replication in Thermococcus kodakarensis

The archaeal minichromosome maintenance (MCM) has DNA helicase activity, which is stimulated by GINS in several archaea. In the eukaryotic replicative helicase complex, Cdc45 forms a complex with MCM and GINS, named as CMG (Cdc45-MCM-GINS). Cdc45 shares sequence similarity with bacterial RecJ. A Cdc45/RecJ-like protein from Thermococcus kodakarensis shows a bacterial RecJ-like exonuclease activity, which is stimulated by GINS in vitro. Therefore, this archaeal Cdc45/RecJ is designated as GAN, from GINS-associated nuclease. In this study, we identified the CMG-like complex in T. kodakarensis cells. The GAN·GINS complex stimulated the MCM helicase, but MCM did not affect the nuclease activity of GAN in vitro. The gene disruption analysis showed that GAN was non-essential for its viability but the Δgan mutant did not grow at 93°C. Furthermore, the Δgan mutant showed a clear retardation in growth as compared with the parent cells under optimal conditions at 85°C. These deficiencies were recovered by introducing the gan gene encoding the nuclease deficient GAN protein back to the genome. These results suggest that the replicative helicase complex without GAN may become unstable and ineffective in replication fork progression. The nuclease activity of GAN is not related to the growth defects of the Δgan mutant cells.

Structural basis for DNA 5´-end resection by RecJ

The resection of DNA strand with a 5´ end at double-strand breaks is an essential step in recombinational DNA repair. RecJ, a member of DHH family proteins, is the only 5´ nuclease involved in the RecF recombination pathway. Here, we report the crystal structures of Deinococcus radiodurans RecJ in complex with deoxythymidine monophosphate (dTMP), ssDNA, the C-terminal region of single-stranded DNA-binding protein (SSB-Ct) and a mechanistic insight into the RecF pathway. A terminal 5´-phosphate-binding pocket above the active site determines the 5´-3´ polarity of the deoxy-exonuclease of RecJ; a helical gateway at the entrance to the active site admits ssDNA only; and the continuous stacking interactions between protein and nine nucleotides ensure the processive end resection. The active site of RecJ in the N-terminal domain contains two divalent cations that coordinate the nucleophilic water. The ssDNA makes a 180° turn at the scissile phosphate. The C-terminal domain of RecJ binds the SSB-Ct, which explains how RecJ and SSB work together to efficiently process broken DNA ends for homologous recombination.

A Novel C-Terminal Domain of RecJ is Critical for Interaction with HerA in Deinococcus radiodurans

Homologous recombination (HR) generates error-free repair products, which plays an important role in double strand break repair and replication fork rescue processes. DNA end resection, the critical step in HR, is usually performed by a series of nuclease/helicase. RecJ was identified as a 5'-3' exonuclease involved in bacterial DNA end resection. Typical RecJ possesses a conserved DHH domain, a DHHA1 domain, and an oligonucleotide/oligosaccharide-binding (OB) fold. However, RecJs from Deinococcus-Thermus phylum, such as Deinococcus radiodurans RecJ (DrRecJ), possess an extra C-terminal domain (CTD), of which the function has not been characterized. Here, we showed that a CTD-deletion of DrRecJ (DrRecJΔC) could not restore drrecJ mutant growth and mitomycin C (MMC)-sensitive phenotypes, indicating that this domain is essential for DrRecJ in vivo. DrRecJΔC displayed reduced DNA nuclease activity and DNA binding ability. Direct interaction was identified between DrRecJ-CTD and DrHerA, which stimulates DrRecJ nuclease activity by enhancing its DNA binding affinity. Moreover, DrNurA nuclease, another partner of DrHerA, inhibited the stimulation of DrHerA on DrRecJ nuclease activity by interaction with DrHerA. Opposing growth and MMC-resistance phenotypes between the recJ and nurA mutants were observed. A novel modulation mechanism among DrRecJ, DrHerA, and DrNurA was also suggested.

Single Strand Annealing Plays a Major Role in RecA-Independent Recombination between Repeated Sequences in the Radioresistant Deinococcus radiodurans Bacterium

The bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans is one of the most radioresistant organisms known. It is able to reconstruct a functional genome from hundreds of radiation-induced chromosomal fragments. Our work aims to highlight the genes involved in recombination between 438 bp direct repeats separated by intervening sequences of various lengths ranging from 1,479 bp to 10,500 bp to restore a functional tetA gene in the presence or absence of radiation-induced DNA double strand breaks. The frequency of spontaneous deletion events between the chromosomal direct repeats were the same in recA+ and in ΔrecA, ΔrecF, and ΔrecO bacteria, whereas recombination between chromosomal and plasmid DNA was shown to be strictly dependent on the RecA and RecF proteins. The presence of mutations in one of the repeated sequence reduced, in a MutS-dependent manner, the frequency of the deletion events. The distance between the repeats did not influence the frequencies of deletion events in recA⁺ as well in ΔrecA bacteria. The absence of the UvrD protein stimulated the recombination between the direct repeats whereas the absence of the DdrB protein, previously shown to be involved in DNA double strand break repair through a single strand annealing (SSA) pathway, strongly reduces the frequency of RecA- (and RecO-) independent deletions events. The absence of the DdrB protein also increased the lethal sectoring of cells devoid of RecA or RecO protein. γ-irradiation of recA⁺ cells increased about 10-fold the frequencies of the deletion events, but at a lesser extend in cells devoid of the DdrB protein. Altogether, our results suggest a major role of single strand annealing in DNA repeat deletion events in bacteria devoid of the RecA protein, and also in recA⁺ bacteria exposed to ionizing radiation.

Deinococcus radiodurans is known for its exceptional ability to tolerate exposure to DNA damaging agents and, in particular, to very high doses of ionizing radiation. This exceptional radioresistance results from many features including efficient DNA double strand break repair. Here, we examine genome stability in D. radiodurans before and after exposure to ionizing radiation. Rearrangements between repeated sequences are a major source of genome instability and can be deleterious to the organism. Thus, we measured the frequency of recombination between direct repeats separated by intervening sequences of various lengths in the presence or absence of radiation-induced DNA double strand breaks. Strikingly, we showed that the frequency of deletions was as high in strains devoid of the RecA, RecF or RecO proteins as in wild type bacteria, suggesting a very efficient RecA-independent process able to generate genome rearrangements. Our results suggest that single strand annealing may play a major role in genome instability in the absence of homologous recombination.

Structural insights into catalysis and dimerization enhanced exonuclease activity of RNase J

RNase J is a conserved ribonuclease that belongs to the β-CASP family of nucleases. It possesses both endo- and exo-ribonuclease activities, which play a key role in pre-rRNA maturation and mRNA decay. Here we report high-resolution crystal structures of Deinococcus radiodurans RNase J complexed with RNA or uridine 5′-monophosphate in the presence of manganese ions. Biochemical and structural studies revealed that RNase J uses zinc ions for two-metal-ion catalysis. One residue conserved among RNase J orthologues (motif B) forms specific electrostatic interactions with the scissile phosphate of the RNA that is critical for the catalysis and product stabilization. The additional manganese ion, which is coordinated by conserved residues at the dimer interface, is critical for RNase J dimerization and exonuclease activity. The structures may also shed light on the mechanism of RNase J exo- and endonucleolytic activity switch.

Biochemical and Functional Characterization of the NurA-HerA Complex from Deinococcus radiodurans

In archaea, the NurA nuclease and HerA ATPase/helicase, together with the Mre11-Rad50 complex, function in 3' single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) end processing during homologous recombination (HR). However, bacterial homologs of NurA and HerA have not been characterized. From Deinococcus radiodurans, we identified the manganese-dependent 5'-to-3' ssDNA/double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) exonuclease/endonuclease NurA (DrNurA) and the ATPase HerA (DrHerA). These two proteins stimulated each other's activity through direct protein-protein interactions. The N-terminal HAS domain of DrHerA was the key domain for this interaction. Several critical residues of DrNurA and DrHerA were verified by site-directed mutational analysis. Temperature-dependent activity assays confirmed that the two proteins had mesophilic features, with optimum activity temperatures 10 °C to 15 °C higher than their optimum growth temperatures. Knocking out either nurA or herA affected cell proliferation by shortening the growth phase, especially for growth at a high temperature (37 °C). In addition, both mutant strains displayed almost 10-fold-reduced intermolecular recombination efficiency, indicating that DrNurA and DrHerA might be involved in homologous recombination in vivo. However, single- and double-gene deletions did not show significantly decreased radioresistance. Our results confirmed that the biochemical activities of bacterial NurA and HerA proteins were conserved with archaea. Our phenotypical results suggested that these proteins might have different functions in bacteria.

IMPORTANCE

Deinococcus radiodurans NurA (DrNurA) was identified as a manganese-dependent 5'-to-3' ssDNA/dsDNA exonuclease/endonuclease, and Deinococcus radiodurans HerA (DrHerA) was identified as an ATPase. Physical interactions between DrNurA and DrHerA explained mutual stimulation of their activities. The N-terminal HAS domain on DrHerA was identified as the interaction domain. Several essential functional sites on DrNurA and DrHerA were characterized. Both DrHerA and DrNurA showed mesophilic biochemical features, with their optimum activity temperatures 10 °C to 15 °C higher than their optimum growth temperatures in vitro. Knockout of nurA or herA led to abnormal cell proliferation and reduced intermolecular recombination efficiency but no obvious effect on radioresistence.

A Mur regulator protein in the extremophilic bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans

Ferric uptake regulator (Fur) is a transcriptional regulator that controls the expression of genes involved in the uptake of iron and manganese, as well as vital nutrients, and is essential for intracellular redox cycling. We identified a unique Fur homolog (DR0865) from Deinococcus radiodurans, which is known for its extreme resistance to radiation and oxidants. A dr0865 mutant (Mt-0865) showed a higher sensitivity to manganese stress, hydrogen peroxide, gamma irradiation and ultraviolet (UV) irradiation than the wild-type R1 strain. Cellular manganese (Mn) ion (Mn²⁺) analysis showed that Mn²⁺, copper (Cu²⁺), and ferric (Fe³⁺) ions accumulated significantly in the mutant, which suggests that the dr0865 gene is not only involved in the regulation of Mn²⁺ homeostasis, but also affects the uptake of other ions. In addition, transcriptome profiles under MnCl₂ stress showed that the expression of many genes involved in Mn metabolism was significantly different in the wild-type R1 and DR0865 mutant (Mt-0865). Furthermore, we found that the dr0865 gene serves as a positive regulator of the manganese efflux pump gene mntE (dr1236), and as a negative regulator of Mn ABC transporter genes, such as dr2283, dr2284 and dr2523. Therefore, it plays an important role in maintaining the homoeostasis of intracellular Mn (II), and also other Mn²⁺, zinc (Zn²⁺) and Cu²⁺ ions. Based on its role in manganese homeostasis, DR0865 likely belongs to the Mur sub-family of Fur homolog.

Crystal structure of the DdrB/ssDNA complex from Deinococcus radiodurans reveals a DNA binding surface involving higher-order oligomeric states

The ability of Deinococcus radiodurans to recover from extensive DNA damage is due in part to its ability to efficiently repair its genome, even following severe fragmentation by hundreds of double-strand breaks. The single-strand annealing pathway plays an important role early during the recovery process, making use of a protein, DdrB, shown to greatly stimulate ssDNA annealing. Here, we report the structure of DdrB bound to ssDNA to 2.3 Å. Pentameric DdrB was found to assemble into higher-order structures that coat ssDNA. To gain further mechanistic insight into the protein's function, a number of point mutants were generated altering both DNA binding and higher order oligomerization. This work not only identifies higher-order DdrB associations but also suggests the presence of an extended DNA binding surface running along the 'top' surface of a DdrB pentamer and continuing down between two individual subunits of the ring structure. Together this work sheds new insight into possible mechanisms for DdrB function in which higher-order assemblies of DdrB pentamers assist in the pairing of complementary ssDNA using an extended DNA binding surface.

Ex vivo DNA Assembly

Even with decreasing DNA synthesis costs there remains a need for inexpensive, rapid, and reliable methods for assembling synthetic DNA into larger constructs or combinatorial libraries. Advances in cloning techniques have resulted in powerful in vitro and in vivo assembly of DNA. However, monetary and time costs have limited these approaches. Here, we report an ex vivo DNA assembly method that uses cellular lysates derived from a commonly used laboratory strain of Escherichia coli for joining double-stranded DNA with short end homologies embedded within inexpensive primers. This method concurrently shortens the time and decreases costs associated with current DNA assembly methods.