title: Molecular and sensory mechanisms to mitigate sunlight-induced DNA damage in treefrog tadpoles.
abstract: The increased incidence of solar ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation has been proposed as an environmental stressor, which may help to explain the enigmatic decline of amphibian populations worldwide. Despite growing knowledge regarding the UV-induced biological effects in several amphibian models, little is known about the efficacy of DNA repair pathways. In addition, little attention has been given to the interplay between these molecular mechanisms with other physiological strategies that avoid the damage induced by sunlight. Here, DNA lesions induced by environmental doses of solar UVB and UVA radiation were detected in genomic DNA samples of treefrog tadpoles (Hypsiboas pulchellus) and their DNA repair activity was evaluated. These data were complemented by monitoring the induction of apoptosis in blood cells and tadpole survival. Furthermore, the tadpoles' ability to perceive and escape from UV wavelengths was evaluated as an additional strategy of photoprotection. The results show that tadpoles are very sensitive to UVB light, which could be explained by the slow DNA repair rates for both cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (CPDs) and pyrimidine (6,4) pyrimidone photoproducts (6,4PPs). However, they were resistant to UVA, probably as a result of the activation of photolyases during UVA irradiation. Surprisingly, a sensory mechanism that triggers their escape from UVB and UVA light avoids the generation of DNA damage and helps to maintain the genomic integrity. This work demonstrates the genotoxic impact of both UVB and UVA radiation on tadpoles and emphasizes the importance of the interplay between molecular and sensory mechanisms to minimize the damage caused by sunlight.
authors.affiliation: Postgraduate Program in Animal Biodiversity, Federal University of Santa Maria, Santa Maria, RS 97105-900, Brazil Southern Regional Space Research Center, CRS/INPE-MCTI, Santa Maria, RS 97110-970, Brazil.
authors.forename: André P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Schuch
authors.affiliation: Postgraduate Program in Animal Biodiversity, Federal University of Santa Maria, Santa Maria, RS 97105-900, Brazil.
authors.forename: Victor M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Lipinski
authors.affiliation: Postgraduate Program in Animal Biodiversity, Federal University of Santa Maria, Santa Maria, RS 97105-900, Brazil.
authors.forename: Mauricio B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.affiliation: Postgraduate Program in Animal Biodiversity, Federal University of Santa Maria, Santa Maria, RS 97105-900, Brazil.
authors.forename: Caroline P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.affiliation: Postgraduate Program in Animal Biodiversity, Federal University of Santa Maria, Santa Maria, RS 97105-900, Brazil.
authors.forename: Sinara S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Jardim
authors.affiliation: Postgraduate Program in Animal Biodiversity, Federal University of Santa Maria, Santa Maria, RS 97105-900, Brazil.
authors.forename: Sonia Z
authors.initials: SZ
authors.lastname: Cechin
authors.affiliation: Postgraduate Program in Animal Biodiversity, Federal University of Santa Maria, Santa Maria, RS 97105-900, Brazil elgion@base.ufsm.br.
authors.forename: Elgion L S
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Loreto
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001001:Anura / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000528:radiation effects; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000528:radiation effects; D001773:Blood Cells / Q000378:metabolism / Q000528:radiation effects; D004249:DNA Damage / Q000528:radiation effects*; D004260:DNA Repair; D007814:Larva / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000528:radiation effects; D013472:Sunlight / Q000009:adverse effects*; D014466:Ultraviolet Rays / Q000009:adverse effects
keywords: Amphibian decline; DNA photoproducts; Nucleotide excision repair; Photolyases; UV radiation