[SCAN] The role of Base Excision Repair (BER) for the extreme radiation resistance of Deinococcus radiodurans | Elin Moe

Scan

Title: The role of Base Excision Repair (BER) for the extreme radiation resistance of Deinococcus radiodurans

Speaker: Elin Moe

Affiliation: Maria Arménia Carrondo Lab - Structural Genomics

Abstract: Deinococcus radiodurans is an extremely radiation and desiccation resistant bacterium which can withstand 200 times higher doses of ionising irradiation than other bacteria without losing viability. The resistance mechanism is not known, but is most likely determined by a combination of an optimized genome packing, cell wall structure and a highly efficient proteome protection and DNA repair machinery. The genome analysis of D. radiodurans showed that it possesses an elevated number of DNA glycosylases compared to other bacteria, suggesting that the Base Excision Repair (BER) pathway may be of importance for the extremophilic features of this organism and indicating that the enzymes possess unusual properties which could reveal novel information about BER. This was the starting point for my structure-function studies of DNA glycosylases from D. radiodurans more than ten years ago, which has resulted in crystal structure determination and biochemical characterization of uracil-DNA N-glycosylase (UNG), mismatch specific uracil-DNA N-glycosylase (MUG), 3-methyladenine DNA glycosylase II (AlkA) and two unusual Endonuclease III (EndoIII) enzymes. Now I have extended my target list and am working on proteins from the whole pathway. In the scan I will give an overview of my findings so far and give a taste of what I would like to do in the future.