Repair of extensive ionizing-radiation DNA damage at 95 degrees C in the hyperthermophilic archaeon Pyrococcus furiosus.
We investigated the capacity of the hyperthermophile Pyrococcus furiosus for DNA repair by measuring survival at high levels of 60Co gamma-irradiation. The P. furiosus 2-Mb chromosome was fragmented into pieces ranging from 500 kb to shorter than 30 kb at a dose of 2,500 Gy and was fully restored upon incubation at 95 degrees C. We suggest that recombination repair could be an extremely active repair mechanism in P. furiosus and that it might be an important determinant of survival of hyperthermophiles at high temperatures.
DiRuggiero
J
J
Center of Marine Biotechnology, University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute, Baltimore. Jocelyne@UMBI.UMD.EDU
Santangelo
N
N
Nackerdien
Z
Z
Ravel
J
J
Robb
F T
FT
D001105:Archaea / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000528:radiation effects*; D002876:Chromosomes, Bacterial / Q000528:radiation effects; D004249:DNA Damage; D004260:DNA Repair; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000378:metabolism / Q000528:radiation effects; D005720:Gamma Rays; D006358:Hot Temperature; D011995:Recombination, Genetic
D004269:DNA, Bacterial