Publication Date:
2002-09-07
Description:
In eukaryotic cells, double-strand breaks (DSBs) in DNA are generally repaired by the pathway of homologous recombination or by DNA nonhomologous end joining (NHEJ). Both pathways have been highly conserved throughout eukaryotic evolution, but no equivalent NHEJ system has been identified in prokaryotes. The NHEJ pathway requires a DNA end-binding component called Ku. We have identified bacterial Ku homologs and show that these proteins retain the biochemical characteristics of the eukaryotic Ku heterodimer. Furthermore, we show that bacterial Ku specifically recruits DNA ligase to DNA ends and stimulates DNA ligation. Loss of these proteins leads to hypersensitivity to ionizing radiation in Bacillus subtilis. These data provide evidence that many bacteria possess a DNA DSB repair apparatus that shares many features with the NHEJ system of eukarya and suggest that this DNA repair pathway arose before the prokaryotic and eukaryotic lineages diverged.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Weller, Geoffrey R -- Kysela, Boris -- Roy, Rajat -- Tonkin, Louise M -- Scanlan, Elizabeth -- Della, Marina -- Devine, Susanne Krogh -- Day, Jonathan P -- Wilkinson, Adam -- d'Adda di Fagagna, Fabrizio -- Devine, Kevin M -- Bowater, Richard P -- Jeggo, Penny A -- Jackson, Stephen P -- Doherty, Aidan J -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2002 Sep 6;297(5587):1686-9.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Cambridge Institute for Medical Research & Department of Haematology, University of Cambridge, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 2XY, UK.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12215643" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉
Keywords:
*Antigens, Nuclear
;
Bacillus subtilis/*genetics
;
Bacterial Proteins/metabolism
;
Binding Sites
;
DNA Damage
;
*DNA Helicases
;
DNA Ligases/*metabolism
;
*DNA Repair
;
DNA, Bacterial/*biosynthesis/metabolism
;
DNA-Binding Proteins/metabolism
;
Mutation
;
Nuclear Proteins/metabolism
;
Protein Binding
Print ISSN:
0036-8075
Electronic ISSN:
1095-9203
Topics:
Biology
,
Chemistry and Pharmacology
,
Computer Science
,
Medicine
,
Natural Sciences in General
,
Physics
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