Photoreversal of UV-potentiated glutamine tRNA suppressor mutations in excision proficient Escherichia coli

Sensitivity to polychromatic UV-radiation of strains of deinococcus radiodurans differing in their DNA repair capacity

PURPOSE

To characterize the ultraviolet (UV) sensitivity and establish the UV-induced DNA damage profile of cells of four Deinococcus radiodurans strains. The investigated strains differ in their radiation susceptibility, leading to a classification into a UV-sensitive (UVS78 and 1R1A) and a UV-resistant class (wild type strain R1 and 262).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Deinococcus radiodurans cells were exposed in suspension to monochromatic 254 nm (UV-C) and polychromatic UV radiations; the surviving fraction was determined by assessing the ability of the bacteria to form colonies. The UV-induced DNA lesions were measured quantitatively using an accurate and highly specific assay that involves the combination of high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with tandem mass spectrometry detection.

RESULTS

Analysis of the DNA photoproducts showed that the TC (6-4) photoproduct and the TT and TC cyclobutane dimers were the major lesions induced by UV-C and UV-(>200 nm)-radiation. The UV-sensitive class was approx. 10 times more susceptible to UV-C and UV-(>200 nm)-radiations than the resistant class. Interestingly, the survival curves of all investigated strains become similar with longer UV wavelengths in the UV-(>315 nm)-radiation range. This observation suggests that the repair mechanisms of the UV-resistant class are not specifically effective for damage produced by UV of the >315 nm range. However, the initial amount of DNA photoproducts produced upon irradiation was found to be the same in resistant and sensitive strains for each wavelength range.

CONCLUSION

Compared to mammalian cells, the DNA of Deinococcus radiodurans cells is less susceptible to the photo-induced formation of thymine cyclobutane dimers as inferred from comparative analysis. The ongoing investigations may contribute to a better understanding of the mechanism of DNA photoprotection against the direct effects of UV radiation. This may be of interest in the present context of a possible continuous decrease in the ozone layer thickness.

Transcription-modulated repair in Escherichia coli evident with UV-induced mutation spectra in supF

We have determined several mutation spectra with the supF sequence after UV mutagenesis in Escherichia coli. The cells were either mfd(+) or mfd(-) and grown in defined or complex medium. The tRNA supF gene was expressed from the plasmid pZ189 or pLS1D (similar to pLS189, a variant of pZ189, but with a tac promoter for supF). Most of the mutations with either plasmid could be attributed to possible targeting photoproducts at dipyrimidine sites in the transcribed (TS) or non-transcribed (NTS) DNA strand with differential characteristics relevant to the repair process "mutation frequency decline" (MFD): (1) with pZ189, targeting sites in TS were favored over sites in NTS in all conditions except after an explicit MFD incubation with mfd(+) cells, when there was a majority in NTS; (2) with pLS1D (tac promoter), there was always a marked bias for targeting sites in TS and this was not altered by an MFD incubation; and (3) with pLS1D, spectra with mfd(-) cells vis-à-vis wild-type indicated a notable shift in the position of a hot-spot (both targeting sites in TS) and an increase in deletion mutations. The results support the Selby-Sancar idea that transcription-coupled nucleotide excision repair (TCR) at tRNA genes accounts for MFD and can be inhibited by rapid transcription. During interference of TCR by rapid transcription, however, the presence or absence of functional Mfd protein (transcription-repair coupling factor) can still influence the pattern of mutation, e.g. alter the position of a hot-spot in pLS1D. Only when a tRNA promoter is modulated by an MFD condition is transcription at a rate conducive to TCR. There were several deletion mutations with pLS1D between direct repeats (not present in pZ189) and a model for their production by UV damage is suggested. The spectra with pZ189 in E. coli had similarities with those published for UV mutagenesis in human cells, e.g. mutations at positions approximately 124 and 156.