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High radiation and desiccation tolerance of nitrogen-fixing cultures of the cyanobacterium Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120 emanates from genome/proteome repair capabilities

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Abstract

The filamentous nitrogen-fixing cyanobacterium, Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120 was found to tolerate very high doses of 60Co-gamma radiation or prolonged desiccation. Post-stress, cells remained intact and revived all the vital functions. A remarkable capacity to repair highly disintegrated genome and recycle the damaged proteome appeared to underlie such high radioresistance and desiccation tolerance. The close similarity observed between the cellular response to irradiation or desiccation stress lends strong support to the notion that tolerance to these stresses may involve similar mechanisms.

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Acknowledgments

Grant of a research fellowship by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), India to HS is gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Molecular Biology Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Trombay, Mumbai, 400085, Maharashtra, India

    Harinder Singh, Kirti Anurag & Shree Kumar Apte

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  1. Harinder Singh
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  2. Kirti Anurag
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  3. Shree Kumar Apte
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Correspondence to Shree Kumar Apte.

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Fig. S1

Supplementary material 1 (PDF 167 kb). Effect of 60Co-gamma radiation or desiccation on the integrity of Anabaena 7120 cells. Unstressed control cells and cells exposed to either a 6 kGy of gamma radiation or b 6 days of desiccation, were immediately stained with 0.4 % trypan blue (in normal saline) for ~5 min, and observed microscopically at ×400 magnification. The cells were also heated to 100 °C for 30 min, stained and then observed microscopically for cell integrity

Fig. S2

Supplementary material 2 (PDF 46 kb). Post-irradiation recovery of Anabaena 7120 in BG11− medium. Cells exposed to 6 kGy of 60Co-gamma rays were allowed to recover in combined nitrogen-free BG11− medium. Post-stress recovery was assessed in terms of a chlorophyll a content (μg ml−1), or b CFU ml−1

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Singh, H., Anurag, K. & Apte, S.K. High radiation and desiccation tolerance of nitrogen-fixing cultures of the cyanobacterium Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120 emanates from genome/proteome repair capabilities. Photosynth Res 118, 71–81 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11120-013-9936-9

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