title: Genomic survey and expression analysis of DNA repair genes in the genus Leptospira.
abstract: Leptospirosis is an emerging zoonosis with important economic and public health consequences and is caused by pathogenic leptospires. The genus Leptospira belongs to the order Spirochaetales and comprises saprophytic (L. biflexa), pathogenic (L. interrogans) and host-dependent (L. borgpetersenii) members. Here, we present an in silico search for DNA repair pathways in Leptospira spp. The relevance of such DNA repair pathways was assessed through the identification of mRNA levels of some genes during infection in animal model and after exposition to spleen cells. The search was performed by comparison of available Leptospira spp. genomes in public databases with known DNA repair-related genes. Leptospires exhibit some distinct and unexpected characteristics, for instance the existence of a redundant mechanism for repairing a chemically diverse spectrum of alkylated nucleobases, a new mutS-like gene and a new shorter version of uvrD. Leptospira spp. shares some characteristics from Gram-positive, as the presence of PcrA, two RecQ paralogs and two SSB proteins; the latter is considered a feature shared by naturally competent bacteria. We did not find a significant reduction in the number of DNA repair-related genes in both pathogenic and host-dependent species. Pathogenic leptospires were enriched for genes dedicated to base excision repair and non-homologous end joining. Their evolutionary history reveals a remarkable importance of lateral gene transfer events for the evolution of the genus. Up-regulation of specific DNA repair genes, including components of SOS regulon, during infection in animal model validates the critical role of DNA repair mechanisms for the complex interplay between host/pathogen.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Microbiologia, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, 05508-900, Brazil.|Departamento de Engenharia Química, Escola Politécnica, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marinalva
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Martins-Pinheiro
authors.affiliation: Centro de Biotecnologia, Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, 05503-900, Brazil.|Departamento de Bioquímica, Instituto de Química, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, 05508-000, Brazil.
authors.forename: Luciane
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Schons-Fonseca
authors.affiliation: Centro de Biotecnologia, Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, 05503-900, Brazil.
authors.forename: Josefa B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: da Silva
authors.affiliation: Centro de Biotecnologia, Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, 05503-900, Brazil.
authors.forename: Renan H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Domingos
authors.affiliation: Centro de Ciências Naturais e Humanas, Universidade Federal do ABC, Santo André, 09210-170, Brazil.
authors.forename: Leonardo Hiroyuki Santos
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Momo
authors.affiliation: Centro de Engenharia, Modelagem e Ciências Sociais Aplicadas, Universidade Federal do ABC, Santo André, 09210-170, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ana Carolina Quirino
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Simões
authors.affiliation: Centro de Biotecnologia, Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, 05503-900, Brazil.|Departamento de Bioquímica, Instituto de Química, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, 05508-000, Brazil.
authors.forename: Paulo Lee
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.affiliation: Centro de Ciências Naturais e Humanas, Universidade Federal do ABC, Santo André, 09210-170, Brazil. renata.costa@ufabc.edu.br.
authors.forename: Renata M A
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: da Costa
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004260:DNA Repair / Q000235:genetics*; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D016680:Genome, Bacterial; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions / Q000235:genetics; D007919:Leptospira / Q000235:genetics*; D007922:Leptospirosis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000382:microbiology; D008647:Mesocricetus; D023421:Models, Animal; D010802:Phylogeny; D015047:Zoonoses / Q000235:genetics / Q000382:microbiology
keywords: Bacterial genomics; DNA repair; Leptospira; Mutagenesis; SOS response