Ultraviolet radiation resistance in Halobacterium salinarium

Thesis/Dissertation · Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1985

OSTI ID:6985204

Kristoff, S R

An obvious characteristic of wild type H. salinarium is its red pigmentation. A non-pigmented mutant was isolated to test the role of pigmentation in UV radiation resistance. Survival curves of UV-irradiated wild type and mutant cells show that pigmentation does not play a direct role in protecting DNA from UV damage. Pigmentation does play a role, however, in repairing UV damage. UV-irradiated wild type cells show more efficient recovery by photoreactivation with 405 nm light than do UV-irradiated non-pigmented mutants. High internal cation concentrations found in H. salinarium may also be partly responsible for the relative resistance of H. salinarium to UV radiation by causing the DNA to assume a conformation less conducive to the production of pyrimidine dimers. In vitro irradiation of DNA extracted from H. salinarium, dissolved in solutions of different ionic strengths, indicate that pyrimidine dimers may not form as readily in DNA which is in an environment with high salt concentration.

• Research Organization: Indiana Univ., Bloomington (USA)
• OSTI ID: 6985204
• Resource Relation: Other Information: Thesis (Ph. D.)
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
BACTERIA
DNA REPAIR
PHOTOREACTIVATION
ULTRAVIOLET RADIATION
BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS
CATIONS
DIMERS
EXPERIMENTAL DATA
IN VITRO
MUTANTS
PIGMENTS
PYRIMIDINES
SURVIVAL CURVES
AZINES
BIOLOGICAL RECOVERY
BIOLOGICAL REPAIR
CHARGED PARTICLES
DATA
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
HETEROCYCLIC COMPOUNDS
INFORMATION
IONS
MICROORGANISMS
NUMERICAL DATA
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
RADIATIONS
RECOVERY
REPAIR
560130* - Radiation Effects on Microorganisms