Researchers uncover protection mechanism of radiation-resistant bacterium
March 20, 2007Recent discoveries by researchers at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) could lead to new avenues of exploration for radioprotection in diverse settings. Michael J. Daly, Ph.D., an associate professor in USU's Department of Pathology, and his colleagues have uncovered evidence pointing to the mechanism through which the extremely resilient bacterium Deinococcus radiodurans protects itself from high doses of ionizing radiation (IR).
The results of the recent study, titled "Protein Oxidation Implicated as the Primary Determinant of Bacterial Radioresistance" were published in the March 20 edition of PLoS Biology.
These discoveries likely will cause a shift in D. radiodurans research, changing the focus from DNA damage and repair toward a potent form of protein protection. These findings point to new avenues of exploration for radioprotection, which could eventually influence how individuals are treated for exposure to chronic or acute doses of radiation; could lead to ways to protect cancer patients from the toxic effects of radiation therapy; and may prove significant in efforts to contain toxic runoff from radioactive Cold War waste sites.
Fifty years ago, scientists discovered D. radiodurans, leading to speculation that the incredible degree of resistance exhibited by the bacteria has to do with its mechanism of DNA repair, and the majority of research on the bacteria has centered on this hypothesis. However, D. radiodurans has subsequently shown nothing obviously unusual in its DNA repair components, and it appears that bacteria at differing levels of resistance sustain the same amount of DNA damage from a given dose of IR. Additionally, many bacteria are killed by IR doses that actually cause very little DNA damage.
In a 2004 study, Daly and colleagues found that resistant and sensitive bacterial cells had significantly different metal concentrations, pointing to high levels of manganese and low iron levels as possible influences on cellular recovery following irradiation. The team showed that the most resistant bacterial species contained approximately 300 times more manganese and three times less iron than the most sensitive species. In the new study, which examined the functional consequences of this disparity, the researchers demonstrated that high cytosolic manganese and low iron concentrations enable resistance by protecting proteins, but not DNA, from IR-induced oxidative damage.
Source: Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine
-
Hong Kong researchers store data in bacteria
Jan 09, 2011 |
4.1 / 5 (19) |
15
-
Resisting Radiation
Mar 30, 2006 |
4.3 / 5 (7) |
0
-
Engineers build first sub-10-nm carbon nanotube transistor
Feb 01, 2012 |
4.9 / 5 (31) |
30
-
Something old, something new: Evolution and the structural divergence of duplicate genes
Jan 31, 2012 |
4.6 / 5 (7) |
1
-
The hidden nanoworld of ice crystals: Revealing the dynamic behavior of quasi-liquid layers
Jan 30, 2012 |
5 / 5 (3) |
1
-
Stock market network reveals investor clustering
Jan 27, 2012 |
3.9 / 5 (23) |
8
-
Of microchemistry and molecules: Electronic microfluidic device synthesizes biocompatible probes
Jan 26, 2012 |
5 / 5 (1) |
0
More news stories
The power of estrogen -- male snakes attract other males
A new study has shown that boosting the estrogen levels of male garter snakes causes them to secrete the same pheromones that females use to attract suitors, and turned the males into just about the sexiest ...
18 hours ago |
4.8 / 5 (6) |
2
|
Grass to gas: Researchers' genome map speeds biofuel development
Researchers at the University of Georgia have taken a major step in the ongoing effort to find sources of cleaner, renewable energy by mapping the genomes of two originator cells of Miscanthus x giganteus, a large perenn ...
15 hours ago |
3.8 / 5 (5) |
0
|
Miami battling invasion of giant African snails
No one knows how they got there. But an invasion of African giant snails has southern Florida in a panic over potential crop damage, disease and general yuckiness surrounding the slimy gastropods.
22 hours ago |
4 / 5 (1) |
4
Experts reveal how plants don't get sunburn
(PhysOrg.com) -- Experts at the University of Glasgow have discovered how plants survive the harmful rays of the sun.
18 hours ago |
4.8 / 5 (5) |
0
|
Protein libraries in a snap
(PhysOrg.com) -- A Rice University undergraduate will depart with not only a degree but also a possible patent for his invention of an efficient way to create protein libraries, an important component of biomolecular ...
22 hours ago |
4.8 / 5 (4) |
1
|
Anonymous knocks CIA website offline (Update)
The website of the Central Intelligence Agency was inaccessible on Friday after the hacker group Anonymous claimed to have knocked it offline.
New error-correcting codes guarantee the fastest possible rate of data transmission
Error-correcting codes are one of the triumphs of the digital age. Theyre a way of encoding information so that it can be transmitted across a communication channel such as an optical fiber o ...
Humans may have helped the decline of African rainforests 3000 years ago
(PhysOrg.com) -- Large areas of rainforests in Central Africa mysteriously disappeared over three thousand years ago, to be replaced by savannas. The prevailing theory has been that the cause was a change ...
New power source discovered
(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and RMIT University have made a breakthrough in energy storage and power generation.
Small modular reactor design could be a 'SUPERSTAR'
(PhysOrg.com) -- Though most of today's nuclear reactors are cooled by water, we've long known that there are alternatives; in fact, the world's first nuclear-powered electricity in 1951 came from a reactor ...
Google users warned of threat to smartphone wallets
Users of Google smartphone wallets were being warned on Friday that there is a way to crack pass codes intended to thwart thieves from going on illicit shopping sprees.