These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


Pubmed for Handhelds

PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed

  • Title: Identification of a DNA nonhomologous end-joining complex in bacteria.
    Author: Weller GR, Kysela B, Roy R, Tonkin LM, Scanlan E, Della M, Devine SK, Day JP, Wilkinson A, d'Adda di Fagagna F, Devine KM, Bowater RP, Jeggo PA, Jackson SP, Doherty AJ.
    Journal: Science; 2002 Sep 06; 297(5587):1686-9. PubMed ID: 12215643.
    Abstract:
    In eukaryotic cells, double-strand breaks (DSBs) in DNA are generally repaired by the pathway of homologous recombination or by DNA nonhomologous end joining (NHEJ). Both pathways have been highly conserved throughout eukaryotic evolution, but no equivalent NHEJ system has been identified in prokaryotes. The NHEJ pathway requires a DNA end-binding component called Ku. We have identified bacterial Ku homologs and show that these proteins retain the biochemical characteristics of the eukaryotic Ku heterodimer. Furthermore, we show that bacterial Ku specifically recruits DNA ligase to DNA ends and stimulates DNA ligation. Loss of these proteins leads to hypersensitivity to ionizing radiation in Bacillus subtilis. These data provide evidence that many bacteria possess a DNA DSB repair apparatus that shares many features with the NHEJ system of eukarya and suggest that this DNA repair pathway arose before the prokaryotic and eukaryotic lineages diverged.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]