1
|
Horne WH, Volpe RP, Korza G, DePratti S, Conze IH, Shuryak I, Grebenc T, Matrosova VY, Gaidamakova EK, Tkavc R, Sharma A, Gostinčar C, Gunde-Cimerman N, Hoffman BM, Setlow P, Daly MJ. Effects of Desiccation and Freezing on Microbial Ionizing Radiation Survivability: Considerations for Mars Sample Return. Astrobiology 2022; 22:1337-1350. [PMID: 36282180 PMCID: PMC9618380 DOI: 10.1089/ast.2022.0065] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2022] [Accepted: 09/02/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Increasingly, national space agencies are expanding their goals to include Mars exploration with sample return. To better protect Earth and its biosphere from potential extraterrestrial sources of contamination, as set forth in the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, international efforts to develop planetary protection measures strive to understand the danger of cross-contamination processes in Mars sample return missions. We aim to better understand the impact of the martian surface on microbial dormancy and survivability. Radiation resistance of microbes is a key parameter in considering survivability of microbes over geologic times on the frigid, arid surface of Mars that is bombarded by solar and galactic cosmic radiation. We tested the influence of desiccation and freezing on the ionizing radiation survival of six model microorganisms: vegetative cells of two bacteria (Deinococcus radiodurans, Escherichia coli) and a strain of budding yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae); and vegetative cells and endospores of three Bacillus bacteria (B. subtilis, B. megaterium, B. thuringiensis). Desiccation and freezing greatly increased radiation survival of vegetative polyploid microorganisms when applied separately, and when combined, desiccation and freezing increased radiation survival even more so. Thus, the radiation survival threshold of polyploid D. radiodurans cells can be extended from the already high value of 25 kGy in liquid culture to an astonishing 140 kGy when the cells are both desiccated and frozen. However, such synergistic radioprotective effects of desiccation and freezing were not observed in monogenomic or digenomic Bacillus cells and endospores, which are generally sterilized by 12 kGy. This difference is associated with a critical requirement for survivability under radiation, that is, repair of genome damage caused by radiation. Deinococcus radiodurans and S. cerevisiae accumulate similarly high levels of the Mn antioxidants that are required for extreme radiation resistance, as do endospores, though they greatly exceed spores in radioresistance because they contain multiple identical genome copies, which in D. radiodurans are joined by persistent Holliday junctions. We estimate ionizing radiation survival limits of polyploid DNA-based life-forms to be hundreds of millions of years of background radiation while buried in the martian subsurface. Our findings imply that forward contamination of Mars will essentially be permanent, and backward contamination is a possibility if life ever existed on Mars.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- William H. Horne
- School of Medicine, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS), Bethesda, Maryland, USA
- Department of Chemistry and Life Science, United States Military Academy, West Point, New York, USA
| | - Robert P. Volpe
- School of Medicine, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS), Bethesda, Maryland, USA
- Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - George Korza
- Department of Molecular Biology and Biophysics, UConn Health, Farmington, Connecticut, USA
| | - Sarah DePratti
- Department of Molecular Biology and Biophysics, UConn Health, Farmington, Connecticut, USA
| | - Isabel H. Conze
- School of Medicine, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS), Bethesda, Maryland, USA
- Institute for Genetics and Cologne Excellence Cluster on Cellular Stress Responses in Aging-Associated Diseases (CECAD), Cologne, Germany
| | - Igor Shuryak
- Center for Radiological Research, Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC), New York, New York, USA
| | - Tine Grebenc
- Slovenian Forestry Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Vera Y. Matrosova
- School of Medicine, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS), Bethesda, Maryland, USA
- Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Elena K. Gaidamakova
- School of Medicine, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS), Bethesda, Maryland, USA
- Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Rok Tkavc
- School of Medicine, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS), Bethesda, Maryland, USA
- Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| | - Ajay Sharma
- Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA
| | - Cene Gostinčar
- Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | | | - Brian M. Hoffman
- Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA
| | - Peter Setlow
- Department of Molecular Biology and Biophysics, UConn Health, Farmington, Connecticut, USA
| | - Michael J. Daly
- School of Medicine, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS), Bethesda, Maryland, USA
- Member, Committee on Planetary Protection (CoPP), National Academies of Sciences, Washington, DC, USA
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Shuryak I, Tkavc R, Matrosova VY, Volpe RP, Grichenko O, Klimenkova P, Conze IH, Balygina IA, Gaidamakova EK, Daly MJ. Chronic gamma radiation resistance in fungi correlates with resistance to chromium and elevated temperatures, but not with resistance to acute irradiation. Sci Rep 2019; 9:11361. [PMID: 31388021 PMCID: PMC6684587 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-47007-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2019] [Accepted: 06/10/2019] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Exposure to chronic ionizing radiation (CIR) from nuclear power plant accidents, acts of terrorism, and space exploration poses serious threats to humans. Fungi are a group of highly radiation-resistant eukaryotes, and an understanding of fungal CIR resistance mechanisms holds the prospect of protecting humans. We compared the abilities of 95 wild-type yeast and dimorphic fungal isolates, representing diverse Ascomycota and Basidiomycota, to resist exposure to five environmentally-relevant stressors: CIR (long-duration growth under 36 Gy/h) and acute (10 kGy/h) ionizing radiation (IR), heavy metals (chromium, mercury), elevated temperature (up to 50 °C), and low pH (2.3). To quantify associations between resistances to CIR and these other stressors, we used correlation analysis, logistic regression with multi-model inference, and customized machine learning. The results suggest that resistance to acute IR in fungi is not strongly correlated with the ability of a given fungal isolate to grow under CIR. Instead, the strongest predictors of CIR resistance in fungi were resistance to chromium (III) and to elevated temperature. These results suggest fundamental differences between the mechanisms of resistance to chronic and acute radiation. Convergent evolution towards radioresistance among genetically distinct groups of organisms is considered here.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Igor Shuryak
- Center for Radiological Research, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.
| | - Rok Tkavc
- Department of Pathology, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, School of Medicine, Bethesda, MD, USA.,Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, School of Medicine, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Vera Y Matrosova
- Department of Pathology, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, School of Medicine, Bethesda, MD, USA.,Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Robert P Volpe
- Department of Pathology, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, School of Medicine, Bethesda, MD, USA.,Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Olga Grichenko
- Department of Pathology, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, School of Medicine, Bethesda, MD, USA.,Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Polina Klimenkova
- Department of Pathology, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, School of Medicine, Bethesda, MD, USA.,Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Isabel H Conze
- Department of Pathology, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, School of Medicine, Bethesda, MD, USA.,Department of Biology, University of Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Irina A Balygina
- Department of Pathology, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, School of Medicine, Bethesda, MD, USA.,Institute of Medicine and Psychology, Novosibirsk State University, Novosibirsk, Russia
| | - Elena K Gaidamakova
- Department of Pathology, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, School of Medicine, Bethesda, MD, USA.,Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Michael J Daly
- Department of Pathology, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, School of Medicine, Bethesda, MD, USA
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Matrosova VY, Gaidamakova EK, Makarova KS, Grichenko O, Klimenkova P, Volpe RP, Tkavc R, Ertem G, Conze IH, Brambilla E, Huntemann M, Clum A, Pillay M, Palaniappan K, Varghese N, Mikhailova N, Stamatis D, Reddy TBK, Daum C, Shapiro N, Ivanova N, Kyrpides N, Woyke T, Daligault H, Davenport K, Erkkila T, Goodwin LA, Gu W, Munk C, Teshima H, Xu Y, Chain P, Woolbert M, Gunde-Cimerman N, Wolf YI, Grebenc T, Gostinčar C, Daly MJ. High-quality genome sequence of the radioresistant bacterium Deinococcus ficus KS 0460. Stand Genomic Sci 2017; 12:46. [PMID: 28775794 PMCID: PMC5534035 DOI: 10.1186/s40793-017-0258-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2017] [Accepted: 07/20/2017] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The genetic platforms of Deinococcus species remain the only systems in which massive ionizing radiation (IR)-induced genome damage can be investigated in vivo at exposures commensurate with cellular survival. We report the whole genome sequence of the extremely IR-resistant rod-shaped bacterium Deinococcus ficus KS 0460 and its phenotypic characterization. Deinococcus ficus KS 0460 has been studied since 1987, first under the name Deinobacter grandis, then Deinococcus grandis. The D. ficus KS 0460 genome consists of a 4.019 Mbp sequence (69.7% GC content and 3894 predicted genes) divided into six genome partitions, five of which are confirmed to be circular. Circularity was determined manually by mate pair linkage. Approximately 76% of the predicted proteins contained identifiable Pfam domains and 72% were assigned to COGs. Of all D. ficus KS 0460 proteins, 79% and 70% had homologues in Deinococcus radiodurans ATCC BAA-816 and Deinococcus geothermalis DSM 11300, respectively. The most striking differences between D. ficus KS 0460 and D. radiodurans BAA-816 identified by the comparison of the KEGG pathways were as follows: (i) D. ficus lacks nine enzymes of purine degradation present in D. radiodurans, and (ii) D. ficus contains eight enzymes involved in nitrogen metabolism, including nitrate and nitrite reductases, that D. radiodurans lacks. Moreover, genes previously considered to be important to IR resistance are missing in D. ficus KS 0460, namely, for the Mn-transporter nramp, and proteins DdrF, DdrJ and DdrK, all of which are also missing in Deinococcus deserti. Otherwise, D. ficus KS 0460 exemplifies the Deinococcus lineage.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Vera Y. Matrosova
- Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, School of Medicine, Bethesda, MD USA
- Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Bethesda, MD USA
| | - Elena K. Gaidamakova
- Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, School of Medicine, Bethesda, MD USA
- Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Bethesda, MD USA
| | - Kira S. Makarova
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD USA
| | - Olga Grichenko
- Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, School of Medicine, Bethesda, MD USA
- Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Bethesda, MD USA
| | - Polina Klimenkova
- Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, School of Medicine, Bethesda, MD USA
- Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Bethesda, MD USA
| | - Robert P. Volpe
- Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, School of Medicine, Bethesda, MD USA
- Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Bethesda, MD USA
| | - Rok Tkavc
- Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, School of Medicine, Bethesda, MD USA
- Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Bethesda, MD USA
| | - Gözen Ertem
- Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, School of Medicine, Bethesda, MD USA
| | - Isabel H. Conze
- Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, School of Medicine, Bethesda, MD USA
- University of Bielefeld, Bielefeld, Germany
| | - Evelyne Brambilla
- Leibniz Institute DSMZ - German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures, Braunschweig, Germany
| | | | - Alicia Clum
- DOE Joint Genome Institute, Walnut Creek, CA USA
| | - Manoj Pillay
- DOE Joint Genome Institute, Walnut Creek, CA USA
| | | | | | | | | | - TBK Reddy
- DOE Joint Genome Institute, Walnut Creek, CA USA
| | - Chris Daum
- DOE Joint Genome Institute, Walnut Creek, CA USA
| | | | | | | | - Tanja Woyke
- DOE Joint Genome Institute, Walnut Creek, CA USA
| | | | | | | | | | - Wei Gu
- Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM USA
| | | | | | - Yan Xu
- Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM USA
| | | | - Michael Woolbert
- Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, School of Medicine, Bethesda, MD USA
- Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine, Bethesda, MD USA
| | - Nina Gunde-Cimerman
- Department of Biology, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Yuri I. Wolf
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD USA
| | - Tine Grebenc
- Slovenian Forestry Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Cene Gostinčar
- Department of Biology, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Michael J. Daly
- Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, School of Medicine, Bethesda, MD USA
| |
Collapse
|