Sexual reproduction as a response to H sub 2 O sub 2 damage in Schizosaccharomyces pombe

Journal Article · Sat Apr 01 00:00:00 EST 1989 · Journal of Bacteriology; (USA)

OSTI ID:6991610

Bernstein, C; Johns, V ^[1]

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1. Univ. of Arizona, Tucson (USA)

Although sexual reproduction is widespread, its adaptive advantage over asexual reproduction is unclear. One major advantage of sex may be its promotion of recombinational repair of DNA damage during meiosis. This idea predicts that treatment of the asexual form of a facultatively sexual-asexual eucaryote with a DNA-damaging agent may cause it to enter the sexual cycle more frequently. Endogenous hydrogen peroxide is a major natural source of DNA damage. Thus, the authors treated vegetative cells of Schizosaccharomyces pombe with hydrogen peroxide to test if sexual reproduction increases. Among untreated stationary-phase S. pombe populations the sexual spores produced by meiosis represented about 1% of the total cells. However, treatment of late-exponential-phase vegetative cells with hydrogen peroxide increased the percentage of meiotic spores in the stationary phase by 4- to 18-fold. Oxidative damage therefore induces sexual reproduction in a facultatively sexual organism, a result expected by the hypothesis that sex promotes DNA repair.

• OSTI ID: 6991610
• Journal Information: Journal of Bacteriology; (USA), Vol. 171:4; ISSN 0021-9193
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
DNA REPAIR
HYDROGEN PEROXIDE
TOXICITY
SACCHAROMYCES
REPRODUCTION
GENE RECOMBINATION
MEIOSIS
SPORES
BIOLOGICAL RECOVERY
BIOLOGICAL REPAIR
CELL DIVISION
EUMYCOTA
FUNGI
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
MICROORGANISMS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PEROXIDES
PLANTS
RECOVERY
REPAIR
YEASTS
560300* - Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology