Protein Oxidation: Key to Bacterial Desiccation Resistance?
For extremely ionizing radiation resistant bacteria, survival has been attributed to protection of proteins from oxidative damage during irradiation, with the result that repair systems survive and function with far greater efficiency during recovery than in sensitive bacteria. Here we examined the relationship between survival of dry-climate soil bacteria and the level of cellular protein oxidation induced by desiccation. Bacteria were isolated from surface soils of the shrub-steppe of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state. A total of 63 isolates were used for phylogenetic analysis. The majority of isolates were closely related to members of the genus Deinococcus, with Chelatococcus, Methylobacterium and Bosea also among the genera identified. Desiccation-resistant isolates accumulated high intracellular manganese and low iron concentrations compared to sensitive bacteria. In vivo, proteins of desiccation-resistant bacteria were protected from oxidative modifications that introduce carbonyl groups in sensitive bacteria during drying. We present the case that survival of bacteria that inhabit dry-climate soils are highly dependent on mechanisms which limit protein oxidation during dehydration.
- Research Organization:
- Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC05-76RL01830
- OSTI ID:
- 934628
- Report Number(s):
- PNNL-SA-57072; KP1504010; TRN: US200814%%618
- Journal Information:
- The ISME Journal, 2(4):393-403, Vol. 2, Issue 4
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
BACTERIA
CARBONYLS
DEHYDRATION
DRYING
EFFICIENCY
IN VIVO
IONIZING RADIATIONS
IRON
IRRADIATION
MANGANESE
MODIFICATIONS
OXIDATION
PROTEINS
REPAIR
SOILS
ionizing radiation
desiccation
Hanford
oxidative stress
protein oxidation
carbonylation
dry-climate soil