Expression of a Tardigrade Dsup Gene Enhances Genome Protection in Plants
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Expression of a Tardigrade Dsup Gene Enhances Genome Protection in Plants Justin Kirke1 · Xiao‑Lu Jin1 · Xing‑Hai Zhang1 Accepted: 15 September 2020 © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract DNA damage is one of the most impactful events in living organisms, leading to DNA sequence changes (mutation) and disruption of biological processes. A study has identified a protein called Damage Suppressor Protein (Dsup) in the tardigrade Ramazzotius varieornatus that has shown to reduce the effects of radiation damage in human cell cultures (Hashimoto in Nature Communications 7:12808, 2016). We have generated tobacco plants that express the codon-optimized tardigrade Dsup gene and examined their responses when treated with mutagenic chemicals, ultraviolet (UV) and ionizing radiations. Our studies showed that compared to the control plants, the Dsup-expressing plants grew better in the medium containing mutagenic ethylmethane sulfonate (EMS). RT-qPCR detected distinct expression patterns of endogenous genes involved in DNA damage response and repair in the Dsup plants in response to EMS, bleomycin, UV-C and X-ray radiations. Comet assays revealed that the nuclei from the Dsup plants appeared more protected from UV and X-ray damages than the control plants. Overall, our studies demonstrated that Dsup gene expression enhanced tolerance of plants to genomutagenic stress. We suggest the feasibility of exploring genetic resources from extremotolerant species such as tardigrades to impart plants with tolerance to stressful environments for future climate changes and human space endeavors. Keywords Damage suppressor protein (dsup) · DNA damage · Nuclei · Tardigrade (Ramazzotius varieornatus) · Tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum)
Introduction Plants endure various stresses throughout their life cycles of growth and development. DNA damage is one of the most harmful and impactful events in plant life. Yet DNA damage occurs both naturally and anthropogenically. For example, ultraviolet (UV) light from the sun is perceived by flavonoid pigments as developmental signals for plants. But UV Electronic Supplementary Material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s12033-020-00273-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Xing‑Hai Zhang [email protected] Justin Kirke [email protected] Xiao‑Lu Jin [email protected] 1
Department of Biological Sciences, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL 33431, USA
radiation can also create cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers in DNA strands, which hinders DNA replication and transcription [1, 2]. On the other hand, plants have evolved direct DNA damage repair mechanism known as photoreactivation through the enzyme photolyase to remove the dimers and reverse the UV-induced DNA damage [1–3]. Ionizing radiation (IR) can be another source of DNA damage, causing non-specific DNA lesions. IR most commonly interacts with water, creating various types of reactive oxygen species (ROS). These hydroxyl ra
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